Environmental impact producing alterations

Recently, concern for subtle aspects of environmental damage has started to take precedence over damage referred to above. It has been realized that the presence of substances in water at concentrations far below those that will produce overt toxicity or excessive reduction of dissolved oxygen levels can have a major impact by altering the predomination of organisms in the aquatic ecosystem. This is Beginning to have an effect on water-quality standards and, consequently, allow-... 

In this book I use the term fetal programming —without reference to mechanism—to describe environmental impact of any kind on the fetus that produces alterations in health and disease apparent at any time in childhood or adulthood. This idea is essentially an extension into the prenatal period of more general conclusions about the role of early experience in later life. Included in this conception are postnatal temperament, behavior patterns, intelligence, psychopathology, and so on—the behavioral focus of this book. The point is that sometimes postnatal consequences of prenatal environmental impacts involve more than just alterations in the physiology of organ systems—such impacts can also have consequences for later behavior and cognitive performance. 

Environmental considerations are just some of the many issues currently faced by pharmaceutical and agrochemical producers. These encompass the direct effect of their products on the environment, the impact of their production processes on the local environment and the most appropriate disposal route for waste products. Other considerations affecting choice of raw materials used include issues such as security of supply for processes that are not easy to alter. At a time when some regulatory authorities now have the power to delay new product approvals if the process is deemed not to be environmentally acceptable, the stakes are high. As such, efficiency considerations are no longer the only factors in determining the optimum configuration for a new process. 

---