Photo Credit: Rachael Rettner/Fox News
A recent
study released shows that children who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution
early in life may have a higher risk of autism. The research found in this
study shows that children who live in areas with high levels of traffic
generated air pollution in their first year of life are three times more likely
to have autism- as opposed to children living in areas with low levels of
traffic generated air pollution. This study also found that there was a link
between air pollution exposure while in the womb and autism-particularly during
late pregnancy. There are many factors that are possibly related to autism such
as age of mother and father, ethnicity, and gender- and these factors were
taken into consideration during this study. Even after taking other factors
into consideration however, researchers still found trends linking the high
levels of air pollution to autism.
While
this study shows interesting information, it does only show an association
linking air pollution and autism, not a cause and effect relationship however. Rachael Rettner of Fox 6 News also reported that, “researchers
did not gather information on the children's nutrition or their exposure to
indoor pollutants and secondhand smoke, which could affect the results.”
Although nutrition and indoor pollutants were not taken into consideration,
this information is still important to note, and more research should be done
to gather additional data. Traffic generated air pollution is common and is
continually increasing which is why it is important we continue to research
this relationship between air pollution and autism.
For more information on this study, visit:
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