Interdisziplinäre Diagnostik in der umweltmedizinischen Ambulanz: ein Erfahrungsbericht über 400 Patienten

The medical diagnostics of 400 patients of an interdisciplinary environmental medical centre is presented. The basic diagnostics included a special environmental medical history using a questionnaire, physical examination, allergological examinations and human biomonitoring. The latter was carried out in order to quantify the internal exposure to environmental pollutants. The main focus was on the differential diagnostics which was supported by special medical divisions of the hospital. Allergic illnesses as well as results of human biomonitoring exceeding the reference ranges were found frequently. Unfortunately a link between external exposure, internal dose and symptoms can hardly be established in environmental medicine. However, in several cases we found a considerably increased internal exposure which allowed to identify the sources of exposure (for example, usage of dichlorobenzene, permethrin, pentachlorophenol). Eliminating the sources obviously improved the health status of some of the patients concerned.