Weiss, B · Neurotoxicology · 1998
This review examines four conditions that involve chemical sensitivity and fatigue-like symptoms: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome, Sick Building Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Gulf War Syndrome. The authors explore different theories about why people develop these conditions, including psychiatric factors, learned behavioral responses, changes in how the nervous system works, and problems with the immune system's stress response. The review suggests that laboratory studies and controlled clinical trials could help determine which explanations are correct.
This review is valuable because it positions ME/CFS within a broader framework of chemically-sensitive syndromes and explores multiple biological and psychological mechanisms that could explain symptom development. Understanding these mechanisms may help researchers identify biomarkers and develop targeted treatments for ME/CFS patients, many of whom report chemical sensitivities.
This review does not establish that chemical exposures cause ME/CFS, nor does it prove which proposed mechanism (psychiatric, behavioral, neurological, or immunological) is primary or correct. It is a narrative synthesis of existing literature without new empirical data, and therefore cannot definitively establish causation or validate any single explanatory model.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Weiss, B (1998). Neurobehavioral properties of chemical sensitivity syndromes.. Neurotoxicology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9553963/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-weiss-1998-neurobehavioral-properties,
author = {Weiss, B},
title = {Neurobehavioral properties of chemical sensitivity syndromes.},
journal = {Neurotoxicology},
year = {1998},
note = {PubMed: 9553963},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/weiss-1998-neurobehavioral-properties},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/weiss-1998-neurobehavioral-properties
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