Exposure to Environmental Toxins in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objective Environmental pollutants, especially environmental toxins (ET), may have the potential to disrupt neurodevelopmental pathways during early brain development. This study was designed to test our hypothesis that mothers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children would have less knowledge about ET and more chance to be exposed to ET than mothers with healthy children (MHC). Methods One hundred and six biologic mothers with ASD children (MASD) and three hundred twenty four biologic mothers with healthy children MHC were assessed using two questionnaires asking about ET. Results The total score in response to questions related to knowledge about ET in MHC was higher than that in MASD. The possibility of exposure to ET was higher in MASD than MHC. MASD showed higher sub-scale scores in terms of exposures to canned food, plastics, waste incinerators, old electronics, microwavable food, and textiles. Conclusion The current results show that reduced knowledge about ET and greater exposure to ET may be associated with autism spectrum disorder. Psychiatry Investig 2010;7:122-127