Continuous globalization and industrialization have ensured metals are an increasing aspect of daily life. Their usefulness in manufacturing has made them vital to national commerce, security and global economy. However, excess exposure to metals, particularly as a result of environmental contamination or occupational exposures, has been detrimental to overall health. Excess exposure to several metals is considered environmental risk in the aetiology of several neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Metal-induced neurotoxicity has been a major health concern globally with intensive research to unravel the mechanisms associated with it. Recently, greater focus has been directed at epigenetics to better characterize the underlying mechanisms of metal-induced neurotoxicity. Epigenetic changes are those modifications on the DNA that can turn genes on or off without altering the DNA sequence. This review discusses how epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, post translational histone modification and noncoding RNA‐mediated gene silencing mediate the neurotoxic effects of several metals, focusing on manganese, arsenic, nickel, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

持续的全球化和工业化确保金属日益成为日常生活的一部分。它们在制造业中的用途使其对国家商业、安全和全球经济至关重要。然而，过度接触金属，特别是由于环境污染或职业接触而导致的，对整体健康有害。过量接触几种金属被认为是多种神经系统和神经退行性疾病病因学中的环境风险。金属引起的神经毒性一直是全球主要的健康问题，人们进行了大量研究以揭示其相关机制。最近，人们更加关注表观遗传学，以更好地表征金属诱导的神经毒性的潜在机制。表观遗传变化是 DNA 上的那些修饰，可以在不改变 DNA 序列的情况下打开或关闭基因。这篇综述讨论了 DNA 甲基化、翻译后组蛋白修饰和非编码 RNA 介导的基因沉默等表观遗传变化如何介导几种金属的神经毒性作用，重点关注锰、砷、镍、镉、铅和汞。