Neurotropic toxicants as a harmful and dangerous industrial factor (literature review)

The statistics of neurotoxicant poisonings in the world and, in particular, in Russia are alarming. Despite the fact that there is information that recently severe forms of intoxication with neurotoxicants are registered less frequently, and the initial and moderate forms that develop during long-term work with increased concentrations of neurotropic poisons predominate, neurotoxicant poisonings continue to occupy a special place among production factors. Poisonings received at industrial enterprises or in laboratories, during accidents or gross violations of safety precautions deserve special attention. Typical representatives of the group of neurotropic toxicants are representatives of the groups of heavy metals (lead, mercury, etc.), combustion products (carbon monoxide, etc.), organic solvents, for example, methanol. Thus, according to WHO data, the world production of heavy metals is growing annually by 10%, which increases the risk of poisoning. The problem of methanol poisoning is no less acute, which accounts for more than 13% of poisonings. Neurotoxicants primarily affect the central nervous system, but their detrimental effects on other human organs and systems are also noted. Intoxication with most representatives of this group of poisons leads to permanent disability, and in some cases, to death. This study analyzes original articles devoted to the issues of poisoning with neurotoxicants, presented in bibliographic and abstract databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, NEB (eLIBRARY.RU) and CyberLeninka. The causes and consequences of poisoning are described, the mechanism of action of toxicants and the symptoms of the victim’s health are briefly shown. It is concluded that even with relative safety of production, emissions of neurotropic toxicants into the environment can have serious and long-term consequences for human health.

Contribution:
Potapov P.K. – material processing, editing;
Shustov E.B. – concept and design of research, editing;
Noskov N.S. – collection and analysis of literary sources, writing the text;
Markin I.V. – formulation of conclusions, writing the text and editing the article;
Melnikova M.V. – writing the text, editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The scientific research was conducted within the framework of the State assignment of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia N. 388-00071-24-00 (topic code 64.004.24.800).

Received: April 6, 2025 / Revised: April 14, 2025 / Accepted: October 15, 2025 / Published: March 13, 2026

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