Neurodevelopmental damage in fetuses

[Richard Alexander <ra@alexanderlaw.com>]

>Subject:     citations:Connection between neurodevelopmental damage in fetus
>Sent:        10/29/96 1:15 AM
>Received:    10/29/96 5:50 AM
>From:        Susan K. Snow, sksnow@1stnet.com
>To:          Multiple recipients of list, dioxin-l@essential.org
>
>MR CARROLL D JOHNSTON wrote:
>[snip]
>
>> Also, I have not yet received a response to my earlier request for
>> citations of research articles that describe the connection between
>> neurodevelopmental damage in fetuses and the mothersí exposure to
>> dioxin-like compounds.  If anyone can give me such citations, I still
>> need them.  Thanks.
>>
>> Carroll Johnston
>> Physicians for Social Responsibility
>


See

Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Fetal Neurotoxicity, Microcephaly
and Mental Retardation:In Utero Brain Damage Caused by Toxic Solvent Exposure

http://consumerlawpage.com/article/utero.shtml

This article describes a scientific approach to ruling out genetic factors to determine whether maternal exposure to solvents is the cause of developmental disability.

Article discusses environmental factors commonly associated with microcephaly which include: ethanol ingestion; inhalation of mixed solvent vapor [as in glue or paint sniffing]; certain pharmaceutical drugs; maternal infection, e.g. rubella; and radiation. Certain chemicals, such as methyl ethyl ketone [MEK], have the capacity to produce microcephaly because they target the developing fetal brain and interfere with proper, timely, and adequate proliferation and migration of the neural cells.