http://www.newstarget.com/z019470.html

NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published June 26 2006
Air pollution boosts autism risk by 50 percent in newborns
(NewsTarget) A recent study by the California Department of Health Services
indicates that industrial air pollutants may increase the risk of autism by
50 percent in young children and unborn babies. The report was published
online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Researchers compared 959 children from six San Francisco Bay area counties
who were born in 1994. Out of these, 284 were diagnosed with autism-spectrum
disorders. The study showed that children with autism were more likely to be
born in areas with high levels of mercury, cadmium, nickel,
trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride. Elemental mercury -- which is released
into the air from coal-burning power plants, chlorine factories and gold
mines -- appears to be particularly hazardous.

In their report, the study authors said their research suggests "living in
areas with higher ambient levels of hazardous air pollutants -- particularly
metals and chlorinated solvents -- during pregnancy or early childhood, may
be associated with a moderately increased risk of autism. These findings
illuminate the need for further scientific investigation, as they are
biologically plausible but preliminary and require confirmation."

Mercury levels are increasing in many parts of the world, and over the past
10 years the number of children diagnosed with autism has increased as well.
This leads many scientists to suspect there may be a connection between
pollutants and the neurological disorder. However, the study's lead author
Gayle Windham cautions that more definitive evidence is needed before
scientists will have a clear understanding of the effect of environmental
pollutants on autism.