April 2 is World Autism Day. Autism now affects one in 88 children and one in 54 boys, worldwide, a dramatic increase in a matter of decades.
A new study by Canadian and American researchers suggests some common chemicals in our environment may be linked to autistic behaviours.
Dr Bruce Lanphear is a co-author of the report. He is a clinician-scientist at the Child and Family Research Institute, BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital, and a Professor in Faculty of Health and Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia,
Dr Lanphear notes that much study has gone into genetics research in connection with autism, but he says that genetics cannot explain the rapid increase in the incidence of autism.
Previous studies have linked exposure to environmental chemicals with changes in children’s brain development, but this latest research is one of only a few to study the relationship between common chemicals in the environment and development of autistic behaviors.
The researchers from Canada and several American institutions studied some 175 pregnant women whose urine and blood was regularly tested for chemicals during pregnancy.
On average, they found 44 suspected hormone-disrupting chemicals in the women’s bodies.
A few years after birth, when the children were 4 or 5, the mothers were asked to rate the child’s behaviour such as how frequently they make eye contact when spoken to or how well they play with others.
In comparing behaviour ratings with the mother’s chemical loads, the researchers noticed a trend; higher ratings of autistic behaviours were connected with higher presence of two chemicals in particular, a flame retardant PDBE-28, commonly found on many imported consumer products, including mattresses, furniture and rugs, and Chlordane, a pesticide which contains the chemical trans-nonachlor.
Dr Lanphear says even though Chlordane has been banned for well-over a decade, it and PDBE are persistent chemicals meaning they remain present in the environment and our bodies for very long periods.
Dr Lanphear points out the study is preliminary in nature and so far does not indicate a direct connection between those particular chemicals and the incidence of autism, but he says it is something worthy of further research.
He also says that often the long-term effects of many, if not a majority of relatively common chemicals, are not known, and are only being discovered after we and our children have had years of exposure with potential adverse effects.
He and colleagues recommend stronger government control over the vast number of chemicals we are exposed to, and greater research prior to those chemicals being given approval for use in consumer products.
He also suggests further research should be done in connection with chemicals and other environmental factors and the relation to the increase in cases of autism.
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