Immunotoxic effects of environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The immune system contributes to maintaining the integrity of the organism. It can be the target of many xenobiotics, and immunoto-xicology attempts to analyze the immunological alterations caused by exposure to these xenobiotics. Several environmental pollutants are strongly suspected of acting on the immune system to cause a decrease in the organism protective functions. Thus, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, well known for their carcinogenic effects, have also been shown to induce immunosuppressive effects, pro inflammatory actions and some hypersensitivity reactions, involved in the development of various pathologies. These different immuno-toxic effects have mainly been identified by experimental studies on animals and our knowledge of the effects on humans remains incomplete. To better understand the immunotoxic effects of exposure to environmental pollutants and their consequences for human health, it is appropriate to strengthen immunotoxicology studies on humans. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.