Air Pollution and ASDs: Homing In on an Environmental Risk Factor

Although researchers have begun making significant inroads into understanding the genetic and biological basis for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other neurodevelopmental disorders, it's been estimated that environmental factors could account for just over half the risk of developing ASDs. 1 In this issue of EHP, researchers have used data from 1,767 women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) II to study exposure to particulate matter (PM) as one potential environmental risk factor for ASDs. 2 In one of the first reports of a relationship between air pollution and ASDs, investigators in California found associations between estimated exposures to airborne heavy metals and other pollutants and risk of ASDs. 3 Later studies using the same exposure models as the California study reported links between multiple hazardous air pollutants and ASDs in North Carolina and West Virginia, 4 and a U.S.-wide study had similar findings.