Wednesday 9 January 2013

Exposure to air pollutants during pregnancy linked to autism in children

Vehicular air pollution could cause autism - Photo by Sarah Stephen

A recent study by Californian researchers indicates increased odds for developing autism in children whose mothers were exposed to ozone and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). Ozone and PM2.5 are associated with vehicular pollution and this study emphasizes the dangers posed by traffic pollutants to health in utero.

The researchers used Los Angeles as a sample population. Mothers of over 7600 children between ages of 3-5, diagnosed with autism during 1998-2009, were identified and their addresses at the time of pregnancy established. For each case, 10 controls were used in the analysis, and the addresses of the mothers were linked with air monitoring stations in the vicinity. The researchers then used using data from air monitoring stations and a land use regression (LUR) model to estimate exposures and came to the conclusion that ambient air pollution is linked to autism. Though LA is much cleaner than it used to be, it frequently has the highest levels of ozone within the country. According to the authors, theirs is the first study to show a link between autism and ozone.

With the increase in the prevalence of autism in the recent years, such an association is of relevance, yet calls for further detailed and stringent studies. Exposure to air pollutants in pregnant mothers has been linked to several diseases in children. In fact, a previous study  linked ambient concentration of solvents and heavy metals near maternal residences to autism in children. The findings of the recent study cannot be taken lightly. However, the problem with many population based studies is that an association doesn't always signify causality, an argument touted by skeptics, and often the hardest to prove otherwise.

References:
Becerra, T., Wilhelm, M., Olsen, J., Cockburn, M., & Ritz, B. (2012). Ambient Air Pollution and Autism in Los Angeles County, California Environmental Health Perspectives DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1205827

Windham, G., Zhang, L., Gunier, R., Croen, L., & Grether, J. (2006). Autism Spectrum Disorders in Relation to Distribution of Hazardous Air Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay Area Environmental Health Perspectives, 114 (9), 1438-1444 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9120
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