Exposure, especially by pregnant women, to fine airborne pollutants (such as dust or smoke) doubles the risk that the child will be autistic at birth . This is the conclusion of the latest study from the Harvard School of Public Health (USA) in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives .
For their research, the experts conducted an analysis of the offspring of the participants in the “Nurses’ Health Study II ” with more than 116,000 American nurses. After collecting data on the locations where they were during their pregnancies, as well as data from the US Environmental Protection Agency and other sources on the levels of fine particles in air pollution, they identified 245 children who were diagnosed with the disorder. spectrum (ASD) and also selected a control group of 1,522 children without ASD during the study period.
The scientists examined the relationship between exposure to these air pollutants before, during and after pregnancy. The results determined that exposure to the particles was associated with a significant increase in autism during pregnancy, but not before or after . In addition, the third quarter was undoubtedly the period of highest risk.
“Our data provide important additional support for the hypothesis that maternal exposure to air pollution contributes to the risk of autism spectrum disorders . The specificity of our results for the period of pregnancy and the third trimester, in particular, leaves out many other possible explanations for these results ”, clarifies Marc Weisskopf, leader of the study.
According to the researchers, the greater the exposure to this air pollution, the greater the risk . This is the first study to look at the relationship between airborne particles and autism.
