Alterations in immunologic function whether occurring prenatally or embryologically or later in life can translate into altered host resistance and susceptibiltiy to disease, including autoimmune disease. Disease patterns are thus likely to be affected by immune modulation induced by immunological toxicants. There are uncertainties in our understanding because More needs to be learned about how the immune system develops. Few well-controlled human or wildlife ecoepidemiological studies that document immune modulation have been completed. The lack of sensitive tests and the uncertainty about exposure have been impediments in many of these studies.
Exposure is well known for some wildlife speices.
Little is known about the effects of exposure to chemical mixtures. Most published studies use single agents when testing for the effects of environmental exposure. The specific components of environmental mixtures are rarely defined. The pharmacokinetics of many immunotoxic compounds in target organs is understood in experimental animals but not in humans and wildlife. Data are lacking about the persistence of the effects of immunomodulators.