Autism risk increases with air pollution exposure, study finds

AP

Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may increase the likelihood a child will develop autism, according to a new study.

"Although additional research to replicate these findings is needed, the public health implications of these findings are large because air pollution exposure is common and may have lasting neurological effects," wrote the study's authors led by Dr. Heather E. Volk, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

The study was published Nov. 26 in Archives of General Psychiatry.

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About one in 88 U.S. children develops an autism spectrum disorder, which is characterized by significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. While there is no known cause or cure for the disorder, scientists say genetic, biological or environmental influences may raise risk for the disorder.

To examine whether environment played a role in autism risk, USC researchers compared 279 children with autism to a control group of 245 typically-developing children. They analyzed air quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and compared that to the mothers' addresses to estimate exposure to air pollution during each trimester and the first year of birth.

The researchers found that kids who were exposed to highest levels of traffic-related air pollution were three times more likely to have autism compared with children living in homes with the lowest exposure. Autism risk was also increased for children who were exposed to higher levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.

Nitrogen dioxide comes from gas stoves, heaters and tobacco smoke, according to the EPA. Particulate matter is a term used to describe solid and liquid droplets found in the air that may include dust from roads, soot from combustion sources and particles formed from gas emissions.

"There is evidence that the immune system might be associated with autism, and pollution affects these same pathways," Volk told HealthDay.

The study, however, only showed an association -- not a cause-and-effect link. A previous December 2010 study by Volk and colleagues found children whose mothers were living within 1,000 feet of a freeway when they gave birth were more likely to develop autism.

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An expert not involved with the study was less convinced of a link.

"As much as it would be perhaps attractive to find a single cause for autism, the reality is there are many different causes," including genetic factors, Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, N.Y., told MyHealthNewsDaily. He added that many children don't live near a major highway.

In an accompany editorial published in the same journal, Dr. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, noted that a recent rises in autism prevalence correspond with a rise in research on the disorder, highlighting the need for more answers on autism's causes.

"These articles point to an urgent need for more research on prenatal and early postnatal brain development in autism, with a focus on how genes and environmental risk factors combine to increase risk," wrote Dawson, who is also professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Despite a substantial increase in autism research publications and funding during the past decade, we have not yet fully described the causes of ASD or developed effective medical treatments for it."

[lillyhorton]

Researchers are trying to put the blame on people. They want you to immunize your children without questions. Questions complicate matters when mega money is involved. Wheat has been found to poison us yet the government pushes wheat as a health food. Nutritional values are depleted from our fruits and vegis but the government has not revised the lables. Monsonto crops have been proven deadly but the government continues to support them. The US government is blameless and can't be held responsible for its actions or inactions.

[luadda22]

Interesting that they say there is an increase because of levels of traffic-related air pollution, mainly due to nitrogen dioxide. They listed many sources of nitrogen dioxide but left out a major source, nitrogen dioxide is produced naturally during electrical storms. It sounds like a bunch of our environmental wacko friends want to plant the seed that you should still be blaming the damn SUV for everything. The headline just seems strange when further on in the article they state "it would be perhaps attractive to find a single cause for autism, the reality is there are many different causes, including genetic factors". Humm, me thinks this headline is a non sequitur.

[nobsatall]

Just because a high profile celebrity decided it wasn't her or her husbands fault their child is autistic, there are now all kinds of wasted dollars going out to find ridiculous causes for the problem. The fact of the matter is, it's genetic. All the new autism cases are because people w/retarded children are now classifying them as autistic because there is less of a stingma. Autism, somehow, is forgivable and acceptable, retardation isn't. The researchers on this project probably got a huge grant to throw around, hopefully to farther their own careers and fame with their 'findings', which is basiclly nothing. These 'findings' will dropped instantly, after all the media attention they can garner for the published reasearcher. Stop wasting our dollars and grant money. (Same with all the cola reasearches.) Give it up and concentrate on genetics for autism.

[nobsatall]

Just because a high profile celebrity decided it wasn't her or her husbands fault their child is autistic, there are now all kinds of wasted dollars going out to find ridiculous causes for the problem. The fact of the matter is, it's genetic. All the new rush on autism cases is because people w/retarded children are now classifying them as autistic because there is less of a stingmatism. Autism, somehow, is forgivable, retardation isn't. The researchers on this project probably got a huge grant to throw around, hopefully to farther their own careers and fame with their 'findings', which is basiclly nothing, and will be dropped instantly, after all the media attention they can garner. Stop wasting our dollars and grant money. (Same with all the cola reasearches.) Give it up and concentrate on genetics for autism.