Many New Jersey residents are alarmed when they see the rapid rise in diagnosed cases of autism spectrum disorder in our state. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a 2014 report, showing 1 in 68 children nationally have autism spectrum disorder. This newest estimate is that New Jersey has the highest rates of 1 in 45 and 1 in 28 for boys. The national rate marks an increase of 30% from the previous 1 in 88 statistic from 2012. The rate of autism has steadily increased, according to the CDC.
Autism is a complex condition with a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Only a portion of the increase in the rates in the CDC's study may be attributed to changes in the diagnosis, greater awareness and better record keeping.
What else has changed? The environment is what has changed dramatically in recent years. We are exposed to tens of thousands of toxic chemicals that were not even in existence 100 years ago. Who knows what chemical interactions they have with each other within the human body?
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A new study from California might shed some light on what specifically is changing in our environment that may be a trigger for autism spectrum disorder.
The study found that children with an autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have mothers who lived close to fields treated with certain pesticides during pregnancy.
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Proximity to agricultural pesticides in pregnancy was also linked to other types of developmental delay among children.
“Ours is the third study to specifically link autism spectrum disorders to pesticide exposure, whereas more papers have demonstrated links with developmental delay,” said lead author Janie F. Shelton, from the University of California, Davis.
Pesticides alter electrical signaling between neurons.
California is one of only a few states in the U.S. where agricultural pesticide use is rigorously reported and mapped. For the new study, the researchers used those maps to track exposures during pregnancy for the mothers of 970 children.
The children included 486 with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 168 with a developmental delay and 316 with typical development.
Children of mothers exposed to organophosphates were 60% more likely to have an ASD than children of non-exposed mothers, the authors report in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Dr. Philip J. Landrigan speculated that the pesticides probably drifted from crops through the air, and that’s how pregnant women were exposed. The new study did not measure airborne pesticide levels, however. Landrigan directs the Children's Environmental Health Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and was not involved in the new study.
If airborne pesticides are linked to autism spectrum disorder, it is logical and prudent to avoid ingesting pesticides, not only for mothers to be, but for children with developing nervous systems.
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