ABSTRACT
Understanding of the environmental influences on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and various disease processes involving it is rapidly expanding. The pathophysiology of pollutant injury of the GI tract has been studied in a fragmented manner, and the aware physician must fit the clinical situation to the known basic scientific facts. Smooth muscle in different parts of the body has many different characteristics of contraction and, thus, is easily influenced by multiple environmental stimuli. Pollutant injury may result in inappropriate excess and at times insufficient secretions of the local intestinal mucosa, causing ulcerations or excess mucus production with diarrhea. Human beings live in a microbial environment and are constantly in contact with a multitude of bacteria and, to a lesser extent, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Chemical messengers play an important role in the control of the physiologic function of the gut, and aberrant function will exacerbate chemical sensitivity.
