OT Cracking the Autism Riddle: Toxic Chemicals, A Serious Suspect in the Autism

[Guest guest]

July 1, 2009

Harvey Karp

America's most read pediatrician, assistant professor of pediatrics, UCLA.

Posted: June 30, 2009 08:25 AM

Cracking the Autism Riddle: Toxic Chemicals, A Serious Suspect in the Autism

Outbreak

Over the past 30 years, toxic chemicals, like Teflon, plastics, and formaldehyde

have increasingly invaded our homes. We used to think these substances were

harmless, but a rising tide of evidence has turned the spotlight on chemical

exposures as a possible poison to our children's developing brains.

One group of substances of particular concern is a ubiquitous family of hormone

twisting compounds, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These

substances are the focus of intense scrutiny because: 1) they're found in every

home in America 2) they're increasingly linked to human disease 3) our exposure

to them has risen in parallel with the surge in autism diagnoses and 4) they may

theoretically affect the developing fetal brain.

In recent years, research has mounted against a virtual police lineup of EDCs,

like BPA (in food cans, hard plastic water bottles), phthlates (in soft

plastics, cosmetics) and fire retardants (in sofas, computers, flame-resistant

clothing). Multiple animal and human studies have linked EDC exposure (during or

after fetal development) with a host of hormone-related disorders, like low

sperm count, cancer (breast, ovarian, prostate, testicular), congenital

malformation of the genitals and even obesity.

In 1996, pediatricians and other concerned scientists convinced Congress to

order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to test hundreds of chemicals

for endocrine disrupting effects. The Clinton administration began the process

of designing these tests, but the Bush administration defied the law. It ignored

this mandate to protect the public health...and organized medicine watched

impotently from the sidelines. Today, ten years and tens of millions of dollars

later, not a single chemical has been evaluated for endocrine disrupting

effects!

Our exposure to EDCs is no mere theoretical concern. In 2000, a Centers for

Disease Control (CDC) study found detectable phthalates in 99.9% of adults

including women of childbearing age. The CDC also discovered detectable levels

of BPA in 93% of thousands of Americans tested (6 years of age and older).

The presence of EDCs in women of child-bearing age is especially worrisome. That

is because there is evidence that even minuscule amounts of these chemicals --

levels commonly present in a woman's body -- may disturb fetal brain development

during highly sensitive periods of neural development known as windows of

vulnerability.

The US National Toxicology Program has stated that it is concerned about the

" effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and

children at current human exposures to bisphenol A. " Furthermore, since multiple

different EDCs have the same effect on the developing body, exposure to a

variety of EDCs may create a large cumulative stress to the body. (In the CDC

study quoted above, 84% of adults tested had more than 6 different phthalates

coursing through their bodies...and that study didn't even test for the presence

of other EDC, e.g. pesticides, fire retardants, etc.)

Are Children with Autism... " Male-adjusted " ?

Our increasing exposure to EDCs lends support to a new hypothesis about the

cause of autism, called the " extreme male theory. " This theory, proposed by Dr.

Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues, speculates that autism is caused by something

changing a fetus' hormonal balance that then leads to over-masculinization of

the developing brain.

Could that " something " be the slurry of hormone-altering chemicals we're exposed

to every day? Are EDCs the reason autism-type disorders are 4-9 times more

common in boys? (Vaccine side effects never show such lopsided impact on boys

versus girls...a glaring fact that is totally ignored by those promoting the

vaccine theory of autism.)

The " extreme male theory " has been supported by two interesting bits of

evidence: 1) fetuses with slightly elevated levels of testosterone grow up

acting extra-male (more interested in things than people, slow language

development, etc.); 2) children with autism -- boys and girls -- show extra-male

characteristics (e.g. poor social ability, language delay).

Here is where the very interesting link to EDCs comes into play: EDCs often act

as weak estrogens and estrogen feminizines the body, but in a fetus' developing

brain estrogen actually has the opposite effect...it causes masculinization.

For now, these ideas are just interesting theories, but the evidence is

concerning. We urgently need more research to discover whether EDCs, or other

chemicals, are linked to the worldwide rise in autism. Fortunately, on that

front, there is very good news to report. Thanks to a dedicated group of

pediatricians -- members of groups like the AAP and CDC -- the National

Children's Study (NCS) was launched in January 2009.

Originally designed during the Clinton presidency, the NCS survived 8 years of

Bush administration attempts to defund and demolish it. But today, the new

administration has committed over $3 billion to carrying it out.

The NCS will establish over one hundred study centers across the US to test the

blood of 100,000 newborns for scores of synthetic chemicals, including many

EDCs. (Workers have already begun going door-to-door enrolling pregnant moms

into the program.) For the next 21 years, scientists will carefully follow the

children's health, comparing the body burden of chemicals at birth to diseases

developed later in life.

The NCS may be our generation's best chance to solve the autism riddle. It is

exactly the type of study needed to tease out the subtle relationships that may

exist between autism and chemicals.

Fortunately, it won't take 21 years to start getting answers. Within 3-4 years,

we expect to have enough data accumulated to start detecting what chemicals

might be linked to autism. The NCS will also search for correlations between

chemical exposures and other increasingly frequent serious illnesses, such as,

diabetes, leukemia, brain tumors, prostate/breast/ovarian cancer, lymphoma,

congenital malformations, infertility, attention deficit disorder...perhaps even

Parkinson's disease.

Beside the NCS, I support other new studies to look at: 1) the autism risk in

vaccinated vs. unvaccinated kids; 2) the metabolism of vaccine ingredients (like

aluminum, added to make shots work better), 3) more accurate determinations of

the true incidence of autism. (The number of kids getting autism is unclear.

Some studies suggest that much of the autism spike is just a labeling shift:

kids who used to be labeled " mentally retarded " increasingly are being labeled

as " autistic. " )

In conclusion, I thank all parents for their concern and interest and I

especially want to salute activist parents for standing up and making their

voices heard on behalf of their children...and all of our children.

Parents have the immensely important duty to nurture and raise their young

children. Mastering scores of scientific studies and arguing science with

biochemists or toxicologists is a great challenge that should not also be their

responsibility. It's unfortunate that our nation's insufficient response to the

autism surge has forced so many parents into this position. But, now is the time

for all of us to join together to solve this very serious burden on our

families, our economy and our collective future.

In case you missed the first two parts in this series, here are links to Part 1:

Vaccines and Autism: A Proven Trigger or A Terrible Coincidence and Part 2: Good

Common Sense About Vaccines and Autism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harvey-karp/cracking-the-autism-riddl_b_221202.htm\

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