Paternal exposures and the question of birth defects

Compared to maternal exposures, little attention has been paid to the possibility of paternally induced adverse effects on fetal development. There is increasing concern, however, about the potential for male-mediated developmental toxicity brought about by exposure to teratogenic agents. This is evidenced by the number of calls regarding paternal exposures that are received by teratogen information services. In this paper, we report the experience of the state of Florida's Teratogen Information Services regarding questions asked about paternal exposures, and briefly review what is known about the risk of paternal exposure to the 10 agents which are most frequently queried.