ABSTRACT
Environmental influences on disease states of the musculoskeletal system are beginning to be recognized by most physicians. Approximately 40% of the body is skeletal muscle; therefore, pollutant injury to this system may have serious consequences in the chemically sensitive patient in whom musculoskeletal dysfunction is a major factor. Pollutant injury to the metabolism of the musculoskeletal system can take many forms and has been seen in the muscle biopsies of some of chemically sensitive patients at the EHC-Dallas. A wide range of clinical entities of the musculoskeletal system are affected by pollutants. Muscle cramps and spasms appear to be a variant of chronic fatigue syndrome. In the chemically sensitive patient, they are clearly related to electrolyte and pollutant-induced intrinsic muscle dysfunction. Toxic chemical induction of fibrosis in isolated organs is well documented. Laboratory abnormalities include elevation of erythrocyte sedmentation rate, hypergammaglobulinemia, circulating immune complexes, and striking peripheral eosinophilia.
