Department of Psychology, Auburn University, 228 Thach Hall, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002 Sep;12(2):119-28. doi: 10.1016/s1382-6689(02)00030-3.
A large and growing body of literature is available on the neurotoxicity of methylmercury and PCBs as expressed in the behavior of both humans and laboratory animals. Methylmercury and PCBs will be compared with PCBs with attention directed at overlaps and distinctions in their profiles of neurotoxicity. It is possible with methylmercury and, to a lesser extent, with PCBs to characterize the sensory, motor, and cognitive consequences of exposure. Methylmercury is emerging as a life-span developmental neurotoxicant: adverse effects of exposure have been identified in development and during aging in human populations as well as in laboratory animals. Less is known about the PCBs on this count. While the mechanisms of neurotoxicity are not understood for either class of compounds, emerging clues are pointing to the possibility of overlap in some mechanisms of neurotoxicity.
大量的文献资料表明，甲基汞和多氯联苯具有神经毒性，无论是在人类还是实验动物的行为中都有所体现。本文将对甲基汞和多氯联苯进行比较，并重点关注它们在神经毒性特征方面的重叠和区别。对于甲基汞，并且在一定程度上也适用于多氯联苯，可以描述暴露后的感觉、运动和认知后果。甲基汞正逐渐成为一种终身发育期神经毒物：在人类和实验动物的发育过程中以及衰老过程中，都已经确定了接触甲基汞会产生不良影响。在这方面，关于多氯联苯的了解则较少。虽然对于这两类化合物的神经毒性机制尚不清楚，但新出现的线索表明，一些神经毒性机制可能存在重叠。
