Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism

[Guest guest]

An important factor amidst the Calif findings (1) is the fact that,

according to studies in the US, Canada, and UK, all humans in the study

locale are likely to have intra-body " backround " toxins in addition to

and other than those focused upon by the researchers (1). The more

intra-body toxins, the more that the body's detox processes must be

activated, thereby increasing the likelihood that detox nutrients will

be transiently or chronically depleted and that one or more of the

toxins will cause adverse sequelae.

The problem is not only the toxins. Perhaps the most important factors

dwell within societal processes whereby patenting, sale, distribution

and use of toxins is allowed and often encouraged.

> *1. Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism*

> Bay Area children with the disorder are 50% likelier to be from areas

> high in several toxic substances. Scientists say more research is needed.

> By Marla Cone

> Times Staff Writer

> June 23, 2006

> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism23jun23,1,732425.story

>

> *

23 June *

What you can catch from the waves.

<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115102337183488273.html>*

With waste-tainted water closing beaches and making swimmers sick, the

EPA is under mounting pressure to bring some of the country's most

celebrated strips of sand back from contamination.

<http://online.wsj.com> [subscription Required]

23 June *

State raises stakes in effort to regulate farm runoff.

<http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/14881811.htm>*

State regulators on Thursday extended by five years a highly

controversial program designed to rein in historically unregulated

pesticides and other pollutants that wash off millions of acres of

California farms

*Meat eaters face immunity scare

*belle Mc

June 23, 2006

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19560023-23289,00.html

PEOPLE who eat chicken, minced beef, pork chops and lettuce may develop

an immunity to the drugs used to treat potentially fatal conditions such

as meningitis and pneumonia.

Seven years after a landmark report by the Joint Expert Technical

Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance warned of drug immunity

being passed through the food chain from animals to humans, an

investigation is to be launched to measure the risk to consumers.

Scientists have long warned that the overuse of antibiotics, such as

growth promoters in chicken, cattle and pigs can breed drug-resistant

bugs that may impede antibiotic treatments of diseases in humans.

The inquiry, due to be completed next May, will estimate the amount of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria existing in food. Chicken, minced beef,

pork-shoulder chops and iceberg lettuce heads will be the initial focus

of the study, after overseas research identified them as containing

common antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Canberra Hospital Infectious Diseases Unit director Collignon

welcomed the research, saying people had the right to know what they

were eating.

" This is an issue and we need this data, " Professor Collignon said. " It

is beyond doubt that whenever you use antibiotics, you get resistance.

But the animal industry seems to be denying this is happening.

" In Australia we use 250,000kg of antibiotics in people every year. In

animals we use 500,000kg - I believe most of this is a waste. "

A federal Health Department spokesman was unable to say why the

department waited seven years before implementing the recommendation

made by the advisory committee to conduct a survey.

In a report prepared last year, Food Science Australia found

drug-resistant strains of common food-poisoning bacteria, such as

salmonella and enteroccus, sometimes left " clinicians with few reliable

treatment options " with which to treat patients.

Professor Collignon said although Australia had managed the spread of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria better than countries such as the US, the

health and agriculture industries should work together to reduce the use

of antibiotics by half.

Industry organisation Meat and Livestock Australia defended the use of

antibiotics for animals, saying a government body - the National Residue

Survey - already actively monitored chemical residues in meat to ensure

they were within acceptable ranges.

" All livestock industries need to retain access to antibiotics for the

production of healthy animals for food production, " an MLA spokesman

said yesterday.

" Without antibiotics, mortality rates would rise and animal welfare

issues would become more prevalent. Australia has a very strict and

conservative approach to the registration of agriculture and veterinary

chemicals, administered by the Australian Pesticides & Veterinary

Medicines Authority. "

*

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[Guest guest]

According to the news article, the Calif study's lead researcher is

unaware that her group's study is *confirming* findings published by

Palmer et al (eg, 1).

" Gayle Windham, the study's lead researcher and senior

epidemiologist in the department's environmental health investigations

branch, called it " a single small study " and " a first look " at whether

toxic pollutants play a role in the neurological disorder, which is

often marked by poor verbal and communication skills and withdrawal from

social interaction. " (2)

1. *Environmental mercury release, special education rates, and autism

disorder: an ecological study of Texas*.

Palmer RF, Blanchard S, Stein Z, Mandell D, C.

Health Place. 2006 Jun;12(2):203-9.

http://www.seedcoalition.org/downloads/autism_study_UTHSCSA.pdf

University of Texas Health Science Center, San Department of

Family and Community Medicine, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San , Texas

78229-3900, USA. palmer@...

The association between environmentally released mercury, special

education and autism rates in Texas was investigated using data from the

Texas Education Department and the United States Environmental

Protection Agency. A Poisson regression analysis adjusted for school

district population size, economic and demographic factors was used.

There was a significant increase in the rates of special education

students and autism rates associated with increases in environmentally

released mercury. On average, for each 1,000 lb of environmentally

released mercury, there was a 43% increase in the rate of special

education services and a 61% increase in the rate of autism. The

association between environmentally released mercury and special

education rates were fully mediated by increased autism rates. This

ecological study suggests the need for further research regarding the

association between environmentally released mercury and developmental

disorders such as autism. These results have implications for policy

planning and cost analysis.

PMID: 16338635

> *2. Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism*

> Bay Area children with the disorder are 50% likelier to be from areas

> high in several toxic substances. Scientists say more research is needed.

>

> By Marla Cone

> Times Staff Writer

> June 23, 2006

> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism23jun23,1,732425.story

>

>

> Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50%

> more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several

> toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a

> first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health Services.

>

> The new findings, which surprised the researchers, suggest that a

> mother's exposure to industrial air pollutants while pregnant might

> increase her child's risk of autism, a neurological condition

> increasingly diagnosed in the last 10 years.

>

> But the scientists cautioned that the link they found in the Bay Area

> is uncertain and that more definitive evidence would be needed before

> concluding that mercury or any other pollutant could trigger autism.

>

> Gayle Windham, the study's lead researcher and senior epidemiologist

> in the department's environmental health investigations branch, called

> it " a single small study " and " a first look " at whether toxic

> pollutants play a role in the neurological disorder, which is often

> marked by poor verbal and communication skills and withdrawal from

> social interaction.

>

> Scientists have long wondered if the surge in diagnoses is due, in

> part, to environmental causes. Some of the increase comes from growing

> doctor and parent awareness, but experts say that cannot explain all

> of it.

>

> " Clearly this suggests that there may be correlations between autism

> onset and environmental exposures, especially as it relates to metal

> exposures, " said Isaac Pessah, a toxicologist who heads UC '

> Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention.

> Pessah, who was not involved in the study, is also a researcher at the

> university's MIND (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental

> Disorders) Institute, which studies autism.

>

> " It would be prudent to reserve judgment until we see if this study

> can be replicated and whether it's of general significance " by looking

> for the same link outside the Bay Area, he said.

>

> About 300,000 U.S. children have been diagnosed with autism and often

> need special education. The study compared 284 children from six Bay

> Area counties who were diagnosed as having so-called autism spectrum

> disorders --- which include a less-severe syndrome called Asperger's

> --- with 657 children from the same counties without the disorders.

> All were born in 1994.

>

> The scientists reviewed data for 19 hazardous air pollutants that are

> known or suspected neurotoxins: chemicals that have a toxic effect on

> the brain.

>

> They found that the children with the autism disorders were 50% more

> likely than the non-autistic children to be born in areas with higher

> estimated levels of three metals and two chlorinated solvents:

> mercury, cadmium, nickel, trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride. No

> significant link was found with 14 other solvents and metals,

> including compounds such as lead, benzene and chromium.

>

> The national autism rate is six children per 1,000, so a 50% increase

> would elevate that rate to nine per 1,000.

>

> The biggest increase came with heavy metals including mercury, a

> pollutant from power plants, factories and mines that can disrupt

> brain development.

>

> The Bay Area was chosen for the study because extensive data are

> readily available there because of a federally funded program to count

> and track autistic children. The region's toxic air pollution is

> considered typical for urban areas.

>

> San Francisco County had the highest estimated levels of metals and

> solvents, including mercury, and Marin County had the lowest of those

> studied. But the researchers did not compare autism prevalence by county.

>

> In their report, published online Wednesday in the journal

> Environmental Health Perspectives, the authors said their research

> " suggests that 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. "

>

> The study is the first to look for a connection between autism among

> children and levels of hazardous air pollutants at birth. Last year,

> scientists who compared volumes of industrial mercury emissions in

> Texas with autism in schoolchildren reported a similar link.

>

> Autism is believed to start in the womb, early in pregnancy, when the

> brain develops. Genetic factors determine who is susceptible, but

> experts theorize that environmental factors contribute.

>

> The new study found that mercury was the " most significant correlation

> with autism, " Pessah said, " but every family may not be affected the

> same way because of their genetic makeup. "

>

> Many parents of autistic children blame vaccines that contained a type

> of mercury called thimerosal. Expert reviews have found no link

> between vaccines and autism, but some scientists do not consider them

> definitive.

>

> No assumptions about vaccines can be made on the basis of the air

> pollution study. " Mercury in the air is a different type than in

> vaccines, " Windham said.

>

> The new study examined elemental mercury, which is released into the

> air from coal-burning power plants, chlorine factories and gold mines.

> It spreads globally and builds up in food chains, particularly in

> oceans. Levels of mercury are increasing in many parts of the world,

> largely from power plants in China and India.

>

> The researchers had not expected to be able to discern a relationship

> between autism and the air pollution data.

>

> The five metals and solvents are common industrial pollutants, but air

> is only one source of exposure, because they also contaminate water

> and food.

>

> Some experts say that if there is a link between mercury and autism,

> it most likely comes from fish consumption, the main route of mercury

> exposure. A 20-year, ongoing study in Denmark's Faroe Islands has

> shown that children have slightly reduced intelligence when mothers

> consumed excessive mercury in seafood.

>

> The largest limitation or uncertainty in the Bay Area study is that

> the pollution data did not come from measurements of compounds to

> which the mothers were actually exposed. Instead, they were based on

> estimates calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency using

> computer modeling of industrial emissions.

>

> Windham said that " there could be other explanations " for the link

> they found. For example, it could be that women who live in the

> worst-polluted areas also smoke more or eat more contaminated seafood.

> The scientists did not track down the mothers to compare lifestyles.

>

> Researchers at s Hopkins University's School of Public Health are

> conducting a similar study in the Baltimore area to see if they

> replicate the findings.

>

[Guest guest]

" The new study found that mercury was the " most significant

correlation with autism, " Pessah said, " but every family may not be

affected the same way because of their genetic makeup. "

Many parents of autistic children blame vaccines that contained a

> type of mercury called thimerosal. Expert reviews have found no link

> between vaccines and autism, but some scientists do not consider

> them definitive.

>

> No assumptions about vaccines can be made on the basis of the air

> pollution study. " Mercury in the air is a different type than in

> vaccines, " Windham said. "

I expect to see the return of the " gentler mercury " crap.

>

> http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-me-

> autism23jun23,1,4038233.story?coll=la-health-medicine

>

> Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism

> Bay Area children with the disorder are 50% likelier to be from

> areas high in several toxic substances. Scientists say more research

> is needed.

> By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer

> June 23, 2006

>

>

> Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were

> 50% more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of

> several toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a

> first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health

> Services.

>

> The new findings, which surprised the researchers, suggest that a

> mother's exposure to industrial air pollutants while pregnant might

> increase her child's risk of autism, a neurological condition

> increasingly diagnosed in the last 10 years.

>

> But the scientists cautioned that the link they found in the Bay

> Area is uncertain and that more definitive evidence would be needed

> before concluding that mercury or any other pollutant could trigger

> autism.

>

> Gayle Windham, the study's lead researcher and senior epidemiologist

> in the department's environmental health investigations branch,

> called it " a single small study " and " a first look " at whether toxic

> pollutants play a role in the neurological disorder, which is often

> marked by poor verbal and communication skills and withdrawal from

> social interaction.

>

> Scientists have long wondered if the surge in diagnoses is due, in

> part, to environmental causes. Some of the increase comes from

> growing doctor and parent awareness, but experts say that cannot

> explain all of it.

>

> " Clearly this suggests that there may be correlations between autism

> onset and environmental exposures, especially as it relates to metal

> exposures, " said Isaac Pessah, a toxicologist who heads UC '

> Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention.

> Pessah, who was not involved in the study, is also a researcher at

> the university's MIND (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental

> Disorders) Institute, which studies autism.

>

> " It would be prudent to reserve judgment until we see if this study

> can be replicated and whether it's of general significance " by

> looking for the same link outside the Bay Area, he said.

>

> About 300,000 U.S. children have been diagnosed with autism and

> often need special education. The study compared 284 children from

> six Bay Area counties who were diagnosed as having so-called autism

> spectrum disorders — which include a less-severe syndrome called

> Asperger's — with 657 children from the same counties without the

> disorders. All were born in 1994.

>

> The scientists reviewed data for 19 hazardous air pollutants that

> are known or suspected neurotoxins: chemicals that have a toxic

> effect on the brain.

>

> They found that the children with the autism disorders were 50% more

> likely than the non-autistic children to be born in areas with

> higher estimated levels of three metals and two chlorinated

> solvents: mercury, cadmium, nickel, trichloroethylene and vinyl

> chloride. No significant link was found with 14 other solvents and

> metals, including compounds such as lead, benzene and chromium.

>

> The national autism rate is six children per 1,000, so a 50%

> increase would elevate that rate to nine per 1,000.

>

> The biggest increase came with heavy metals including mercury, a

> pollutant from power plants, factories and mines that can disrupt

> brain development.

>

> The Bay Area was chosen for the study because extensive data are

> readily available there because of a federally funded program to

> count and track autistic children. The region's toxic air pollution

> is considered typical for urban areas.

>

> San Francisco County had the highest estimated levels of metals and

> solvents, including mercury, and Marin County had the lowest of

> those studied. But the researchers did not compare autism prevalence

> by county.

>

> In their report, published online Wednesday in the journal

> Environmental Health Perspectives, the authors said their

> research " suggests that 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. "

>

> The study is the first to look for a connection between autism among

> children and levels of hazardous air pollutants at birth. Last year,

> scientists who compared volumes of industrial mercury emissions in

> Texas with autism in schoolchildren reported a similar link.

>

> Autism is believed to start in the womb, early in pregnancy, when

> the brain develops. Genetic factors determine who is susceptible,

> but experts theorize that environmental factors contribute.

>

> The new study found that mercury was the " most significant

> correlation with autism, " Pessah said, " but every family may not be

> affected the same way because of their genetic makeup. "

>

> Many parents of autistic children blame vaccines that contained a

> type of mercury called thimerosal. Expert reviews have found no link

> between vaccines and autism, but some scientists do not consider

> them definitive.

>

> No assumptions about vaccines can be made on the basis of the air

> pollution study. " Mercury in the air is a different type than in

> vaccines, " Windham said.

>

> The new study examined elemental mercury, which is released into the

> air from coal-burning power plants, chlorine factories and gold

> mines. It spreads globally and builds up in food chains,

> particularly in oceans. Levels of mercury are increasing in many

> parts of the world, largely from power plants in China and India.

>

> The researchers had not expected to be able to discern a

> relationship between autism and the air pollution data.

>

> The five metals and solvents are common industrial pollutants, but

> air is only one source of exposure, because they also contaminate

> water and food.

>

> Some experts say that if there is a link between mercury and autism,

> it most likely comes from fish consumption, the main route of

> mercury exposure. A 20-year, ongoing study in Denmark's Faroe

> Islands has shown that children have slightly reduced intelligence

> when mothers consumed excessive mercury in seafood.

>

> The largest limitation or uncertainty in the Bay Area study is that

> the pollution data did not come from measurements of compounds to

> which the mothers were actually exposed. Instead, they were based on

> estimates calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

> using computer modeling of industrial emissions.

>

> Windham said that " there could be other explanations " for the link

> they found. For example, it could be that women who live in the

> worst-polluted areas also smoke more or eat more contaminated

> seafood. The scientists did not track down the mothers to compare

> lifestyles.

>

> Researchers at s Hopkins University's School of Public Health

> are conducting a similar study in the Baltimore area to see if they

> replicate the findings.

>

[Guest guest]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism23jun23,1,732425.story?ctrack=1 &

cset=true

[Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]

Study Links Air Pollutants With Autism

Bay Area children with the disorder are 50% likelier to be from areas

high in several toxic substances. Scientists say more research is

needed.

By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer

June 23, 2006

Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50%

more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several

toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a

first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health

Services.

The new findings, which surprised the researchers, suggest that a

mother's exposure to industrial air pollutants while pregnant might

increase her child's risk of autism, a neurological condition

increasingly diagnosed in the last 10 years.

But the scientists cautioned that the link they found in the Bay Area

is uncertain and that more definitive evidence would be needed before

concluding that mercury or any other pollutant could trigger autism.

Gayle Windham, the study's lead researcher and senior epidemiologist

in the department's environmental health investigations branch, called

it " a single small study " and " a first look " at whether toxic

pollutants play a role in the neurological disorder, which is often

marked by poor verbal and communication skills and withdrawal from

social interaction.

Scientists have long wondered if the surge in diagnoses is due, in

part, to environmental causes. Some of the increase comes from growing

doctor and parent awareness, but experts say that cannot explain all

of it.

" Clearly this suggests that there may be correlations between autism

onset and environmental exposures, especially as it relates to metal

exposures, " said Isaac Pessah, a toxicologist who heads UC '

Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention.

Pessah, who was not involved in the study, is also a researcher at the

university's MIND (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental

Disorders) Institute, which studies autism.

....

The study compared 284 children from six Bay Area counties who were

diagnosed as having so-called autism spectrum disorders — which

include a less-severe syndrome called Asperger's — with 657 children

from the same counties without the disorders. All were born in 1994.

The scientists reviewed data for 19 hazardous air pollutants that are

known or suspected neurotoxins: chemicals that have a toxic effect on

the brain.

They found that the children with the autism disorders were 50% more

likely than the non-autistic children to be born in areas with higher

estimated levels of three metals and two chlorinated solvents:

mercury, cadmium, nickel, trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride. No

significant link was found with 14 other solvents and metals,

including compounds such as lead, benzene and chromium.

....

The biggest increase came with heavy metals including mercury, a

pollutant from power plants, factories and mines that can disrupt

brain development.

The Bay Area was chosen for the study because extensive data are

readily available there because of a federally funded program to count

and track autistic children. The region's toxic air pollution is

considered typical for urban areas.

San Francisco County had the highest estimated levels of metals and

solvents, including mercury, and Marin County had the lowest of those

studied. But the researchers did not compare autism prevalence by

county.

In their report, published online Wednesday in the journal

Environmental Health Perspectives, the authors said their research

" suggests that 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. "

The study is the first to look for a connection between autism among

children and levels of hazardous air pollutants at birth. Last year,

scientists who compared volumes of industrial mercury emissions in

Texas with autism in schoolchildren reported a similar link.

Autism is believed to start in the womb, early in pregnancy, when the

brain develops. Genetic factors determine who is susceptible, but

experts theorize that environmental factors contribute.

The new study found that mercury was the " most significant correlation

with autism, " Pessah said, " but every family may not be affected the

same way because of their genetic makeup. "

Many parents of autistic children blame vaccines that contained a type

of mercury called thimerosal. Expert reviews have found no link

between vaccines and autism, but some scientists do not consider them

definitive.

No assumptions about vaccines can be made on the basis of the air

pollution study. " Mercury in the air is a different type than in

vaccines, " Windham said.

The new study examined elemental mercury, which is released into the

air from coal-burning power plants, chlorine factories and gold mines.

It spreads globally and builds up in food chains, particularly in

oceans. Levels of mercury are increasing in many parts of the world,

largely from power plants in China and India.

The researchers had not expected to be able to discern a relationship

between autism and the air pollution data.

The five metals and solvents are common industrial pollutants, but air

is only one source of exposure, because they also contaminate water

and food.

Some experts say that if there is a link between mercury and autism,

it most likely comes from fish consumption, the main route of mercury

exposure. A 20-year, ongoing study in Denmark's Faroe Islands has

shown that children have slightly reduced intelligence when mothers

consumed excessive mercury in seafood.

The largest limitation or uncertainty in the Bay Area study is that

the pollution data did not come from measurements of compounds to

which the mothers were actually exposed. Instead, they were based on

estimates calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency using

computer modeling of industrial emissions.

....

Researchers at s Hopkins University's School of Public Health are

conducting a similar study in the Baltimore area to see if they

replicate the findings.

= -- = -- = -- = -- = -- = --

http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/9120/abstract.html

Autism Spectrum Disorders in Relation to Distribution of Hazardous Air

Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay Area

Gayle C. Windham, Lixia Zhang, Gunier, A. Croen, and

Judith K. Grether

Note: The title for " Autism Spectrum Disorders in Relation to

Distribution of Hazardous Air Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay

Area " mistakenly contained the words " and Los Angeles " for an hour

after the article was put online. EHP apologizes for any confusion

this may have caused.