Mental Health and Environmental Exposures

From:

www.iceh.org/

This updated and expanded fact sheet from the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) describes the connections between several environmental agents and mental health.

Environmental agents included in the fact sheet:

• metals (lead, mercury, aluminum, arsenic, manganese, thallium and tin)

• pesticides

• solvents

• toxic gases (carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide)

• PBBs and PCBs

• alcohol and recreational drugs

• tobacco

• boron

• carbon dioxide

• vinyl chloride

• endocrine disruptors

• food additives

• ionizing radiation

With an emphasis on prevention, this fact sheet provides information on psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses related to each of the environmental agents, as well as sources of exposure and actions that can be taken to reduce exposures.

Summary

This fact sheet is written for parents, caregivers, teachers, health-care providers, policy makers and others who are not professionals in mental health but who want information on this topic.

The 16-page fact sheet includes a glossary and resources for further information about environmental exposures and prevention, as well as mental health in general.

Find the fact sheet online:

www.iceh.org/resources.html

LDDI is a working group of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment and is coordinated by the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health