During an attempt to describe what exactly is going on in the patients, we discovered a subgroup. We discovered in about ten families with at least two patients that someone had been exposed to pentachlorophenol (PCP). Fifteen to twenty years later, all these people suffered from the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Following PCP poisoning, we notice changes in the immune system that increase the risk of infection. Therefore, there is a relationship between toxins and the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Several publications have already shown that zinc, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and nickel affect the immune system, so that infections are no longer eliminated. In a family who have built their home on a site where arsenic has been dumped in the past, we notice that the immune system is similarly affected. This has already been shown in animal experiments as well. Then the connection between the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and opportunistic infections needs to be shown. We examined the incidence of chronic mycoplasma infections in a group of 272 patients and found this to be 68.7 percent. In two control groups the incidence was less than 10 percent.
We find all kinds of infections. In some people, two or even three infections occur and in 17 percent of cases we find multiple infections. There are 7 trigger factors that may lead to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, specifically pregnancy, a number of isotropic viruses, long-term stress, excessive physical activity, various infections, transfusions, allergic reactions and heavy metals, phosphates and PCBs. These factors also lead to a deterioration of immune system function. Once a cellular dysfunction has appeared, infections occur that perpetuate a defect in the immune system and make a return to the normal situation impossible. A number of abnormalities develop which lead to the symptoms of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so that additional infections occur and cancer risk increases. In long-term cases of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the incidence of cancer is five times higher than normal. It is, therefore, possible to indirectly implicate chemicals in cancer, especially in immune system disorders where P53 (the protective factor against cancer) disappears. If one has one or more factors and gets an infection one cannot get rid of, one enters a vicious circle that is very hard to break. In the 1984 Lake Tahoe epidemic, where 9 percent of the population develops the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome after infections, the incidence of cancer is higher than normal. Certain lymphotropic and brain cancers occur up to a million times more often in the American population. There is a large statistical increase. This means that specific cancers can develop, which in turn will be related to changes in the immune system. Therefore, the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be explained. One of its inducing factors can be found in the environment.