One of the largest studies ever effected on the causes of autism has come up with a startling conclusion: pollution might be the cause of autism. The results paint a frightening picture for future mothers, if they are validated by further research.
What the study revealed was that a much higher incidence of autism was seen in those mothers who were exposed to high levels of atmospheric pollution during pregnancy. In particular, those gestating mothers who were exposed to high levels of mercury and diesel fumes in the air, had twice the risk of having an autistic child, compared to those mothers who lived in cleaner environments.
A connection between chemicals in the environment, including home pesticides had been the focus or recent studies. Those studies however were geographically limited, whereas the new one just published had a range that spanned the entire country.
It is also one of the longest range studies on the subject.
Data was compared between the EPA's own collection of air pollutants and the Nurses' health Study.
Besides mercury and diesel fumes, lead, manganese and other hard metals, were linked to a higher rate of autism, but not nearly as significant a finding as those cases directly linked to mercury and diesel in the air.
The apparent link is the interaction between the pollutants and the development of the foetus' brain in the womb during the period of exposure. Scientists however, are cautioning parents not to draw conclusion from the study that all mercury is responsible for autism, since a previous theory that indicated mercury in vaccines to be the culprit of autism has been disproven.
However, the new study does not give researchers enough clues as to the exact interaction between pollution and brain development. The next step then, is to expand the research to studies of blood samples in both mother and child to see if the chemicals are actually present in the body during gestation and at what levels.
Source : Huffington Post 6.17.13
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