Abstract
Background and methodsIdiopathic autism, suspected to be caused by exposure of genetically susceptible individuals to unknown environmental triggers, has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. The objectives of our study were to determine, using a linear regression model, whether the county prevalence of autism in the Pacific Northwest of the United States was associated with the source of drinking water for that county and whether this relationship was dependent on the level of environmental pollutants and meteorological factors in the county.ResultsWe found the previously reported relationship between precipitation and autism in a county was dependent on the amount of drinking water derived from surface sources in the county. We also found a positive association between the EPA’s risk of neurological disease and autism, but this relationship was only present in warm areas.ConclusionsOur study provides evidence for the hypothesis that environmental factors are associated with autism and that meteorological factors play a role in this relationship.
Highlights
Background and methodsIdiopathic autism, suspected to be caused by exposure of genetically susceptible individuals to unknown environmental triggers, has increased dramatically in the past 25 years
The relationship between precipitation and autism was stronger in counties that derived a large proportion of their drinking water from surface sources than in counties that derived very little water from surface sources (Figure 1)
Other significant variables associated with county level autism included state of residence, average annual suicide rate in the county, unemployment rate, risk of neurological diseases from toxic air emissions, and average annual heating degree days (Table 2)
Summary
Idiopathic autism, suspected to be caused by exposure of genetically susceptible individuals to unknown environmental triggers, has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. The incidence of ASDs has increased dramatically in the past 25 years, from 0.05% in the early 1980’s to 1.1% in 2008 [4,5,6]. The recent steady increase in ASDs, without a compensatory decrease in the diagnosis of other psychological conditions [7], is suggestive of an environmental disease caused by exposure to a risk factor(s) that is relatively widespread. The causes of the majority of cases of ASDs remain unknown. Symptoms vary between patients; it is fairly well accepted that ASDs develop prenatally or within the first few years of life and, at least with high functioning autism, occur more frequently in males than females [5,8]
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