Neurobehavioral toxicology in the 21st century: a future or a failure? The 1991 Hänninen Lecture.

Toxic substances in the workplace and general environment have been shown to cause adverse health effects in human populations. This has occurred as the result of such factors as industrialization, environmental pollution, and increased reliance on chemicals in agriculture. Effects of toxic substances on the human nervous system have been identified and characterized through use of neurobehavioral methods, essentially over the past 20 years. This paper examines 10 key publications in neurotoxicology and relates them to the future of neurobehavioral toxicology in the next century. The view is expressed that the future of neurobehavioral methods lies in more firmly rooting them in basic mechanisms of neurotoxicity.