A recent study examined the connection between chemical air pollutants and the likelihood children will develop autism. The study looked at 217 families through six Pennsylvania counties: Beaver, Washington, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Butler, and Allegheny.
The study reveals that children who are highly exposed to two specific air pollutants—styrene and chromium—while in the womb or up to the first two years of their lives are as much as twice as likely to develop autism, when compared with children who were not exposed to these chemicals.
Obviously, then, mothers and families should avoid these chemicals, right? Well, that’s the point of the study. Styrene is a chemical compound found in plastics and paints. It is also produced during the burning of gasoline. Chromium is a heavy metal which develops as a result of steel hardening and other major industrial processes.
As you can imagine, these two chemicals make their way into the air as a result of industrial manufacturing. Thus, women and children who live in regions of high industrial manufacturing are at greater risk for autism development.
Other air pollutants have also been linked to increased autism risk in children—methylene chloride, arsenic, cyanide, and methanol—all of which can be avoided by living separate from industrial manufacturing sites.
Grant Oliphant, president of the Pennsylvania-based organization The Heinz Endowments which funded the research, responded: “This study brings us a step closer toward understanding why autism affects so many families in the Pittsburg region and nationwide, and reinforces in sobering detail that air quality matters.”
He adds, “Our aspirations for truly becoming the most livable city cannot be realized if our children’s health is threatened by dangerous levels of air toxics. Addressing this issue must remain one of our region’s top priorities.”
Source : Dumb out , Oct 2014
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