Environmental pollutants and human diseases: diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Environmental factors play a central role in the processes of human development, health, and disease. Human exposure to hazardous agents in the air, wader, soil, and food and to physical hazards in the environment is a major contribator to increased morbidity and mortality. Hazardous substances that originally are discharged as air pollutants may find their pathway to human exposure through multiple routes, including ingestion and dermal contact, as well as direct inhalation. The mechanisms for modeling and understanding the fate of air pollutants through atmospheric transport, deposition into water and soil, bioaccumulation, and ultimate uptake to receptor organs and systems in the human body are complex. A single contaminant source often may represent only a fraction of a total body pollutant burden. The EDTA chelation therapy enables the removal of toxic metals and excess calcium from the body. In this study we present results related to the detoxification treatment through continuous intravenous infusion of EDTA of 78 patients with cardiovascular problems and chronic fatigue syndrome. A comparison between toxic metals found in urine before and after the chelation-therapy treatment has been carried out. EDTA has been administered before urine collection, and a wide range of toxic metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and others) has been measured with reference to urine creatinine.