Environmental health perspectives
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Sep 1995
ReviewAssociations between criteria air pollutants and asthma.
The evidence that asthma is increasing in prevalence is becoming increasingly compelling. This trend has been demonstrated not only in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and several other Western countries. In the United States, the increase is largest in the group under 18 years of age. ⋯ Attempts at identification of factors that predispose asthmatics to responsiveness to NO2 has produced inconsistent results and requires further investigation. In summary, asthmatics have been shown to be a sensitive subpopulation relative to several of the criteria pollutants. Further research linking epidemiologic, clinical, and toxicologic approaches is required to better understand and characterize the risk of exposing asthmatics to these pollutants.
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Jun 1994
ReviewAssessment of developmental toxicity: neuropsychological batteries.
Assessment of change in behavioral functioning in children as a function of neurotoxicity is not a trivial undertaking. Psychological tests, widely (though erroneously) considered to be the "gold standard" for measurement of behavior in humans, are not adequate for the task; they tap the structure of cognition, not the behavioral repertoire, and cannot (alone) address developmental change. ⋯ Measures of neuropsychological outcome are optimally characterized as they relate to behavioral domains specified in terms of the competencies of infants and children of different ages; relevant information is derived from demographic, socioeconomic, medical, developmental, and educational sources, as well as from detailed observational data and performance on psychological tests. Two levels of assessment are proposed.
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Oct 1978
ReviewIs behavior or morphology a more sensitive indicator of central nervous system toxicity?
Both behavior and morphology can be altered by exposure of the CNS to toxic substances. The brain is an organ with considerable structural redundancy and this presumably accounts for some of the ability of the CNS to maintain normal function in the presence of some structural damage. Compensation for damage may also occur through a form of "learning" due to the biochemical and morphological plasticity of the CNS. ⋯ Compensatory changes such as these are likely to require days or weeks to develop. On the other hand, short-term, reversible effects of substances such as drugs are not likely to cause morphological changes at doses which affect behavior. The importance of appropriate quantitative data on both morphology and behavior in evaluation of the CNS toxicity of substances is evident.