ABSTRACT
Introduction Workplace genetic screening is a sensitive area within occupational health owing to a history of misuses, and potential future misuses, with regard to workforce selection. The matter is discussed, for example, on websites such as www.genetic-testing-and-work.be and www.nuffield.org.uk (from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics). However, the issue is not 'black and white', since sensitive people may benefit from protection against harmful exposures. A distinction should be made between, on the one hand, the biological monitoring of genotoxic exposures and testing for heritable susceptibility to exposure to genotoxicants and, on the other, disease predisposition. Validity of tests and the predictive capacity of a positive or a negative test result are also very important issues.
