SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF HEALTH PROTECTION OF FEMALE WORKERS IN THE STUDIES OF THE UFA RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
The Ufa Research Institute of Occupational Health and Human Ecology (former Ufa Research Institute of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases) was founded in 1955. Its foundation was associated with the beginning of intensive extraction and processing of Bashkir high-sulfur oil, which entailed the need to study sanitary and hygienic working conditions and prevention of occupational diseases in this industry. The article focuses on the research carried out by the Institute for the Protection of General and Reproductive Health of female workers in various economic sectors. The occupational work activity of women is associated with the impact of harmful work environment and work process factors on their body, which can have a negative impact on their health, including reproduction processes. The Institute began to deal with the problems of occupational hygiene and occupational pathology of petrochemical female workers in the late 60-s of the last century. Over the years, studies on working conditions, the state of somatic and reproductive health of female workers in the oil, petrochemical, chemical, mining industries, the production of artificial leather, in the agro-industrial complex have been conducted. Studies of working conditions in the petrochemical and chemical industries have shown that the leading harmful occupational factors were toxic substances consisting of marginal and unsaturated aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives, which have a combined complex impact on female workers; at the mining and processing plant, female workers were exposed to the combined impact of harmful occupationalfactors (polymetallic ore dust, chemicals, industrial noise); at the agro-industrial complex - microbial dust aerosols in combination with chemicals representing animal waste products, etc. Harmful substances in the working area air have been shown to be detected at or below their maximum permissible concentration. Low-intensity factors affected female workers. Experimental studies have revealed morphological changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary neurosecretory system and peripheral endocrine glands under the influence of chemicals, which led to changes in the work of the endocrine system by activating or inhibiting receptors, to a violation of hormonal balance in the body of animals. The use of hormonal, genetic studies, and the determination of pollutants in biological media provided an in-depth understanding of the nature of reproductive disorders among female workers exposed to hazardous chemicals.