Author: Needleman HL.
Source: Environ Health Perspect.
Year: 1995
Comment:
In this article, the author states, "Behavioral toxicology, the study of chemical toxicants and their influence on brain function, is a young field. The notion that a chemical can affect the brain and that the earliest expression of toxicity could be found in altered behavior, thinking, or mood is not new; it was voiced at least 2 thousand years ago by Dioscerides when he wrote, 'Lead makes the mind give way.' Despite this early warning, the scientific community has until recently paid little systematic attention to the impact of neurotoxicants on behavior."
Abstract / Excerpt:
“The new fields of behavioral toxicology and behavioral teratology investigate the outcome of specific toxic exposures in humans and animals on learning, memory, and behavioral characteristics. Three important classes of behavioral neurotoxicants are metals, solvents, and pesticides. The clearest data on the deleterious effects of prenatal exposure to toxicants comes from the study of two metals, lead and mercury, and from epidemiological investigations of the effects of alcohol taken during pregnancy. Less complete data are available for two other groups of agents, solvents and pesticides. What we do know about their effects on the fetal brain is convincing enough to make us demand caution in their distribution.”
Citation:
Needleman HL. Behavioral toxicology. Environ Health Perspect. 1995; 103 Suppl 6:77-9. Review.