Toxic Chemicals may be Linked to Autism

A recent study suggests that some children exposed to certain chemicals during childhood could increase their risk of Autism.

According to lead study authors Phillippe Grandjean of Harvard School and Public Health and Philip Landrigan of Mt. Sinai Hospital, the two worked together to complete an analysis of five chemicals that were previously found to be toxic. In 2006, they discovered that the chemicals methylmercury, arsenic, PCBs, lead and toluene could all cause different brain disorders. However, manganese, chlorpyrifos, fluoride, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), tetrachloroethylene (PERC), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) have also all been added.

"We know from clinical information on poisoned adult patients that these chemicals can enter the brain through the blood brain barrier and cause neurological symptoms," said Grandjean, via CNN. "When this happens in children or during pregnancy, those chemicals are extremely toxic, because we now know that the developing brain is a uniquely vulnerable organ. Also, the effects are permanent."

As some of the listed chemicals can be found in metal cleaners, insecticides and cloth production, the chemical fluoride can even be found in children's toothpaste. Though it has been issued as save for kids below the age of 2, a separate study conducted by the American Dental Association shows how parents use fluoride on their babies to keep them within the prescribed limit-which could potentially increase their autism risk, along with the loss of IQ points and dyslexia.

"Upsetting the careful balance of brain development can cause problems that range from a few lost IQ points to severe autism, " Landrigan said to USA Today.

He also added that such exposure can even begin while children are still in the womb.

However, the American Chemistry Council has described the study as "flawed" and urged the authors not to release conclusions based on such assertions.

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More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Lancet Neurology.