Missing from media: role of chemicals in autism epidemic.
A recent New York Times article about the high rates of autism among Somali immigrants doesn’t consider environmental chemicals.
Donald G. McNeil Jr.’s article in the New York Times about rising autism rates among Somali children in Minnesota is fascinating and sheds light on a crucial health problem in this minority community. However, this article devotes no space to the possible role of environmental factors, which scientists are increasingly implicating in autism risk.
The cluster of autism cases among Somali children in Minnesota is alarming. But autism rates have been increasing steadily in communities throughout the United States. A recent study found that rates of autism in California have increased seven-fold since 1990. Because genetics do not change over such a short period of time, chemical pollutants may be playing a role.
Environmental exposures that are being considered by scientists include metals, pesticides and persistent organic pollutants, like PCBs or flame retardants. Indeed, in the past two years, three scientific studies have associated exposure to pesticides with autism risk in children (Roberts et al. 2007; Eskenazi et al. 2007; Hertz-Picciotto unpublished). Research on these and other chemicals is continuing.
“Speculation is rampant about possible causes,” the New York Times article states. “Living conditions in Somalia or in refugee camps in Kenya; traditional medicines; intermarriage; genetic predisposition; vitamin D deficiencies due to a lack of sunlight; and, of course, vaccines.”
But what environmental chemicals have these children been exposed to, and why isn't anyone in this article speculating about that?
