ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with helpful definitions of terms used throughout the book and the difficulties of naming—or even classifying—all neurotoxic agents present in the human habitat. The intrinsic association between a group of chemical compounds and neurotoxic properties should never be suggested or implied without clinical, experimental, epidemiological evidence. A neurotoxin is any toxic substance that occurs naturally in the environment, or is produced by living organisms, which is capable of producing a biological effect on the nervous system. The compilation of comprehensive databases on all toxic agents, their uses in work environments, and their presence in the living environment of humans is a formidable task. In the United States, one of the most comprehensive databanks is the chemical information system of the National Institutes of Health/Environmental Protection Agency, which at its installation in 1982 contained 200,000 entries. Natural neurotoxins are broadly subdivided into phytotoxins, of plant origin—including fungi, although fungi are not plants—and neurotoxins, of animal origin.
