BACKGROUND-Despite dramatic declines in children's blood lead concentrations and a lowering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's level of concern to 10 µg per deciliter (0.483 µmol per liter), little is known about children's neurobehavioral functioning at lead concentrations below this level.

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Accumulating evidence suggests that outdoor air pollution may have a significant impact on central nervous system (CNS) health and disease. To address this issue, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institute of Health convened a panel of research scientists that was assigned the task of identifying research gaps and priority goals essential for advancing this growing field and addressing an emerging human health concern. Here, we review recent findings that have established the effects of inhaled air pollutants in the brain, explore the potential mechanisms driving these phenomena, and discuss the recommended research priorities/approaches that were identified by the panel.

Experimental evidence supporting 1,1Ј-dimethyl-4,4Ј-bipyridinium [paraquat (PQ)] as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD) is equivocal. Other agricultural chemicals, including dithiocarbamate fungicides such as manganese ethylenebisdithiocarbamate [maneb (MB)], are widely used in the same geographical regions as paraquat and also impact dopamine systems, suggesting that mixtures may be more relevant etiological models. This study therefore proposed that combined PQ and MB exposures would produce greater effects on dopamine (DA) systems than would either compound administered alone. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated twice a week for 6 weeks with intraperitoneal saline, 10 mg/kg paraquat, 30 mg/kg maneb, or their combination (PQ ϩ MB). MB, but not PQ, reduced motor activity immediately after treatment, and this effect was potentiated by combined PQ ϩ MB treatment. As treatments progressed, only the combined PQ ϩ MB group evidenced a failure of motor activity levels to recover within 24 hr. Striatal DA and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid increased 1-3 d and decreased 7 d after injections. Only PQ ϩ MB reduced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and DA transporter immunoreactivity and did so in dorsal striatum but not nucleus accumbens. Correspondingly, striatal TH protein levels were decreased only by combined PQ ϩ MB 5 d after injection. Reactive gliosis occurred only in response to combined PQ ϩ MB in dorsal-medial but not ventral striatum. TH immunoreactivity and cell counts were reduced only by PQ ϩ MB and in the substantia nigra but not ventral tegmental area. These synergistic effects of combined PQ ϩ MB, preferentially expressed in the nigrostriatal DA system, suggest that such mixtures could play a role in the etiology of PD.