Many individuals, including those suffering from Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance or TILT and veterans with “Gulf War Illness” encountered chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide, linked to the initiation of chemical, food and drug intolerances. Decades later, unknown numbers still suffer from chronic multi-system symptoms and debilitating cognitive and mood difficulties that continue to be triggered and re-triggered by low levels of indoor air contaminants, formerly tolerated foods and structurally unrelated medications. Unlike DDT and pollutants that are stored in our bodies and remain in our tissues for decades, organophosphate pesticides like chlorpyrifos (Dursban) and diazinon provide no biological markers, that is, they leave no “chemical footprints” that scientists can detect years later. This makes their health effects near-impossible to attribute to past exposures. In other words, this huge, commercially important class of pesticides do their damage, especially to the brain and nervous system, and then exit the body. The damage remains. Certain people are less able to detoxify and eliminate organophosphates from their bodies and thus are particularly susceptible to the toxic effects. Unfortunately there is no easy way for susceptible people to know in advance whether they are at risk. However, Dr. Clem Furlong’s lab at the University of Washington has measured individuals’ detoxification ability for several research studies. According to this New York Times article, “Chlorpyrifos is still widely used in agriculture — on apples, oranges, strawberries, almonds and many other fruits — though it was barred from residential use in 2000.”