The fact that environmental agents, namely drugs, maternal infections, other chemical or physical agents could harm the developing embryo or fetus is a problem recognized specially since the XXth century. In developing countries there are some special characteristics that can make this problem more severe. These include low educational and economical level of the population, high incidence of infectious and carential diseases, habits of self-medication associated to easy ways to obtain prescription drugs and, finally no legal permission for pregnancy termination. More than that, sometimes there are also bad environmental conditions or unhealthy working conditions during pregnancy. In this article we present the main methodologies to detect and to monitorize potential teratogens, with special emphasis in present programs going on in Brazil and Latin America.
Teratogens; Pregnancy; Birth defects; Epidemiological surveillance