Environmental Toxins: Prenatal Exposure to Toxins Linked to Immune Dysfunction Later in Life

A Cornell researcher, Rodney Dietert, and his wife have completed the first comprehensive review of diseases in those who were exposed to environmental toxins or drugs while fetuses. Results indicate that most of the diseases found in fetuses exposed to toxins have two things in common: an imbalanced immune system and exaggerated inflammatory reactions.

Prenatal Toxicity Linked To Immune Dysfunctions In Later Life

Toxins known to act as teratogens include herbicides, pesticides, alcohol, heavy metals, maternal smoking, antibiotics, diesel exhaust, drugs, and PCBs. Dietert said that his review is of note because: "Most therapeutic approaches have looked at specific disease outcomes from DIT, rather than focusing on the underlying immune dysfunction that creates the increased disease risk. Instead, we looked at the common immune dysfunction that is related to a host of diseases."