The human immune system is constantly exposed to chemical contaminants, whether from food, water or air. Some chemicals directly elicit an immune response, while others indirectly activate or deactivate components within the immune system. Thus when tracking or predicting the effect of a chemical on the immune system, many different pathways and modes of action need to be considered.
Following an introduction to the various pathways and toxicity mechanisms from a systemic perspective, the main part of this comprehensive reference surveys individual molecular mechanisms of important immunotoxicants, from PAHs to biopharmaceuticals, and from receptor-mediated toxicity to nanoparticle toxicity, using analyses based on molecular effects rather than on animal models.
Taken together, the knowledge presented here provides an up-to-date overview of this hot topic that can be directly applied to the prediction and characterization of immunotoxic effects in drugs, chemicals, and environmental contaminants.

Emanuela Corsini is associate professor in toxicology at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Milan (Italy), where she heads the Laboratory of Immunotoxicology and Immunopharmacology. She obtained her PhD in Food and Environmental Toxicology in 1993 at Milan and subsequently spent a post-doc period at NIEHS, Research Triangle Park (USA). Professor Corsini is active in numerous scientific and professional organizations, and serves on several journal editorial boards. From 2005 to 2011 she was the Chair of the Immunotoxicology and Chemical Specialty Section at EUROTOX, and since 2010 she is one of the Directors of the IUTOX Executive Committee.
Henk van Loveren got his PhD at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). He spent a post-doc period at Yale University, New Haven (USA), and subsequently joined the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and the Environment at Bilthoven, where he directs the immunotoxicology program. He is also professor of immunotoxicology at Maastricht University. From 2000 to 2003 he was the chair of the Immunotoxicology and Chemical Specialty Section at EUROTOX. He serves as the director of the WHO/IPCS Collaborative Centre of Immunotoxicology and Allergic Hypersensitivity, has served at the Nutrition, Dietetic Products and Allergies Panel of EFSA, and is currently member of the CONTAM Panel of EFSA. For his activities in the field of Immunotoxicology he got the Vos Career Achievement Award of the SOT in 2008, and the Merit Award from EUROTOX in 2010.