Autism spectrum disorder prevalence and proximity to industrial facilities releasing arsenic, lead or mercury

Abstract

Prenatal and perinatal exposures to air pollutants have been shown to adversely affect birth outcomes in offspring and may contribute to prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For this ecologic study, we evaluated the association between ASD prevalence, at the census tract level, and proximity of tract centroids to the closest industrial facilities releasing arsenic, lead or mercury during the 1990s. We used 2000 to 2008 surveillance data from five sites of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) network and 2000 census data to estimate prevalence. Multi-level negative binomial regression models were used to test associations between ASD prevalence and proximity to industrial facilities in existence from 1991 to 1999 according to the US Environmental Protection Agency Toxics Release Inventory (USEPA-TRI). Data for 2489 census tracts showed that after adjustment for demographic and socio-economic area-based characteristics, ASD prevalence was higher in census tracts located in the closest 10th percentile compared of distance to those in the furthest 50th percentile (adjusted RR = 1.27, 95% CI: (1.00, 1.61), P = 0.049). The findings observed in this study are suggestive of the association between urban residential proximity to industrial facilities emitting air pollutants and higher ASD prevalence.

Autism genes are selectively targeted by environmental pollutants including pesticides, heavy metals, bisphenol A, phthalates and many others in food, cosmetics or household products

“…Antimony High hair levels found in autistic children [39,44] None found Arsenic Autism prevalence linked to proximity to industrial facilities releasing arsenic, lead or mercury [45]. high levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, antimony and cadmium in hair samples of autistic children [44] See heavy metals and epigenetic effects (above) [38] Cadmium Retrospective air levels in birth areas related to autism in 2 year old children: Reviewed in [3] See heavy metals and epigenetic effects (above) [38] Chromium See heavy metals (above) [38] Mercury Birth residence air levels associated with autism: Reviewed in [3] See heavy metals (above) [38] Molybdenum High hair levels found in autistic children [39,44] [98] of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurones and of autism-related genes in the offspring [29].…”

“…Genes affected by compounds implicated in autism (Fig 1) Of the named pollutants implicated in autism (see Table 1) 45 showed enrichment values at P < 0.05 (all except Nickel, diethyl phthalate, Nitrogen Dioxide and Vinyl Chloride)…”

Autism spectrum disorder: Trends in research exploring etiopathogenesis

“…Pesticides, such as polychlorinated biphenyls congeners, are associated with increased ASD risk . Prevalence of ASD is seen to be higher in areas releasing arsenic, lead, or mercury . This suggests that there might be some environmental triggers of ASD.…”

Incidence of autism in high risk neonatal follow up

“…Autism spectrum disorder is increasingly being recognized as a public health problem of major importance 2. It is one of the leading disorders causing disabilities in the neonatal population 3. With current genetic testing, it is estimated that an etiology is identified in 15-20% of individuals with ASD; in others, the cause remains unknown 4.…”