Study: Autism has higher occurrence in polluted areas

Study: Autism has higher occurrence in polluted areas, study finds
By Maria Cone, (c) 2006, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles --- Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50 percent more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health Services.

The new findings, which surprised the researchers, suggest that a mother's exposure to industrial air pollutants while pregnant might increase her child's risk of autism, a neurological condition increasingly diagnosed in the past 10 years.

But the scientists cautioned that the link they found in the Bay Area is uncertain, and more definitive evidence would be needed before concluding that mercury or any other pollutant could trigger autism.

Gayle Windham, the study's lead researcher and senior epidemiologist in the state health department's environmental health investigations branch, called it "a single small study" and "a first look" at whether toxic pollutants play a role in the neurological disorder, which is often marked by poor verbal and communication skills and withdrawal from social interaction.Scientists have long wondered if the surge in diagnoses is due, in part, to environmental causes. Some of the increase comes from growing doctor and parent awareness, but experts say that cannot explain all of it.

For information, resources and practical strategies on autism visit:
www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com

www.AutismConcepts.co