The allegory of a mountain: an environmental introduction to neurotoxicology.

Overall, the area of human neurotoxicity offers significant difficulties as well as challenges in our attempts to maintain or enhance human well being. Many of the substances to which humans are being exposed are relatively new to the environment, i.e., the products of a sophisticated industrial development. As a result humans are exposed to volatile organic compounds not previously present in our environment in significant amounts. It is important to maintain our industrial complex and the economic growth of our society. The use of volatile organic compounds is often important to the success of the industry. However, it is also important for us to determine what concentration of a given substance may produce short-term effects or chronic long-term effects. Human exposure to these potentially toxic levels could then be prevented. This is especially true because once irreversible damage occurs there is no medical treatment that can lead to improvement. Therefore, prevention of neurotoxic injury is essential.