| Popis: |
Pesticides in various forms have been used for hundreds of years. As technology has developed, the use of these chemicals has influenced the way we eat, and live. Beginning in the 1960s and continuing to present, the impact of the use of pesticides on the environment and the potential risk of consuming pesticide-treated food have been extensively evaluated. The neurological toxicities that result from acute high-dose exposure to pesticides are fairly well understood and have led to regulatory decisions regarding both occupational and consumer pesticide exposure. More recently however, researchers have investigated the importance of low-dose pesticide exposure and oxidative stress. Several markers of oxidative stress can be detected in rodents and non-model species at exposures that are orders of magnitude lower than doses that cause acute toxicity. The generation of reactive oxygen species that can be detected at these low dose exposures may play an important role in the mechanisms of toxicity that lead to the neurological diseases and cancers associated with pesticide exposure. In some studies, the use of antioxidants is able to relieve or prevent toxicity, indicating that oxidative stress may be mediating toxicity; however this is not true in all cases. |
