Autism Linked to Banned Chemicals
An explanation for the increase in autism rates over the past few decades has remained elusive in the years since researcher Andrew Wakefield fabricated a link between the disorder and mercury in vaccinations that was eventually completely debunked.
In 2016, researcher Kristin Lyall of Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute published findings suggesting that high exposure during pregnancy to chemicals banned in the 1970s increased risk of an autism spectrum disorder.
The study looked at 1144 children born in southern California between 200 and 2003. Their mothers had participated in California’s Expanded Alphafetoprotein Prenatal Screening Program, intended to identify birth defects during pregnancy. Second trimester blood samples from these women could be used to determine to what extent their children were exposed to the chemicals while in utero. The researchers found an association between the highest exposure levels and later autism diagnoses.
Lyall and colleagues measured levels of two different classes of organochlorine chemicals: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), used as lubricants, coolants, and insulators; and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including DDT, which was banned in 1972. All production of organochlorine chemicals was banned in the US in 1977, but they remain in the environment and are absorbed in the fat of animals that humans eat. According to Lyall, people in the US generally have detectable levels of organochlorine chemicals in their bodies.
The study revealed that exposure to two compounds in particular—PCB 138/158 and PCB 153—was linked to dramatically higher autism rates. Level of exposure is key to autism risk. Those children in the top 25 percentile of exposure were 79% and 82% more likely to have an autism diagnosis than those with the lowest levels of exposure, respectively.
High exposure to two other compounds, PCB 170 and PCB 180, increased autism risk by 50%.
The findings by Lyall and colleagues were published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Editor’s Note: Another study by Manish Arora and colleagues links autism risk to levels of lead, zinc and manganese absorbed in early life.
The myth that mercury in vaccines causes autism still lingers in our popular culture. Mercury is no longer used in vaccines, but autism rates are still increasing. Perhaps the new findings of a link between heavy metals and autism will help end the misinformation about the safety of vaccines and allow more parents to vaccinate their children without worry.
