Environment and immunity - workshop proceedings
The European Commission, DG XII, has published the proceedings of a workshop on "Environment and immunity", held in Brussels in May 1996, as part of the Air Pollution Epidemiology Reports Series. Many indications suggest that the immune system is affected by exposure to environmental pollutants. Experiments have shown that observed effects on the immune system lead to altered host resistance, auto-immunity or allergy. In both animal and human populations, evidence is available of interaction of environmental pollutants with the immune system. However, the consequences in terms of health and disease in the human population are less clear. Experiments on animals have shown that chemical exposure to the immune system can lead to altered resistance to infections, or alter allergy or auto-immunity, but the extent of the problem in humans is as yet largely unknown. In addition, although exposure to such agents may be low, often this exposure is chronic. The workshop aimed to give an overview of the subject, and to develop directions for future research to protect man and the environment.