神经发育性疾病,如孤独症、注意力分散、智力迟滞和脑瘫等是一类很常见的疾病,其治疗费用高昂,会引起终生残疾。这些疾病的病因大多不明。有些工业化学物(如铅、甲基汞、多氯联苯、砷和甲苯)被认为是引起神经发育性疾病和亚临床脑功能不良的原因。胚胎早期暴露于这些化学物,即使对成人无作用的剂量也可引起胚胎脑损伤。这些危险因素的认识促使人们开展以证据为基础的预防措施,比如去除汽油内的铅添加剂。虽然这些预防工作很成功,但大部分工作开展是滞后的。约200种化学物能导致成人临床神经毒作用。尽管缺乏系统的测试,但是许多化学物在动物身上已显现出神经毒作用,而这些化学物对人脑发育毒作用依然未知,对这些化学物缺乏以保护儿童为目标的管理措施。预防化学源性的神经发育缺陷存在两大主要障碍:①神经发育毒性化学物的检测不够;②相关立法所需的严谨证据不足。因此,实施以认识脑发育特有的易损性为基础的预防新方法,检测和控制化学物是必需的。 Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, distractibility, mental retardation and cerebral palsy are a very common category of diseases that are costly to treat and cause lifelong disabilities. Most of the causes of these diseases are unknown. Some industrial chemicals (such as lead, methylmercury, PCBs, arsenic and toluene) are thought to contribute to neurodevelopmental and subclinical brain dysfunctions. Early exposure of embryos to these chemicals can cause embryonic brain damage even at a dose that does not affect adults. Recognition of these risk factors has led to evidence-based prevention measures, such as the removal of lead in gasoline. Although these prevention efforts have been successful, most of the work has lagged behind. About 200 chemicals can cause clinical neurotoxic effects in adults. Despite the lack of systematic testing, many chemicals have been shown to be neurotoxic in animals, and the toxicological effects of these chemicals on human brain development remain unknown, and there is a lack of management measures targeting these chemicals to protect children. There are two main obstacles to preventing chemical-derived neurodevelopmental defects: (1) Insufficient testing of neurodevelopmental toxic chemicals; (2) Risky evidence required for the relevant legislation. Therefore, it is essential to implement new methods of prevention, detection and control of chemicals based on the understanding of the specific vulnerabilities of brain development.