With the CDC's 2012 announcement that an estimated 1 in 88 children have autism, many researchers and parents are looking for answers. Recent substantial evidence points to environmental chemicals as a possible cause of autism. In 2010, Dr. Philip J. Landrigan published "What Causes Autism? Exploring the Environmental Contribution," which suggests a link to exposure to environmental chemicals in early pregnancy.

Autism is a biological disorder, and much recent research points to autism as a disorder in brain development. While genetic factors are often linked as causes of autism, other external and environmental factors are likely to play a role.

In July of 2011, a Stanford University study implicated environmental factors as a cause of autism in 62% of the cases. Earlier studies showed only 10 percent of cases could be linked to environmental factors (and 90 percent attributed to genetics), but the Stanford study really changed those numbers and our perception about the causes of autism. This study did not determine which environmental factors cause autism, as any non-genetic factors were allowed.

The findings in these studies suggest that events during pregnancy should be the subject of future research, and researchers need to answer the million-dollar question of "what are the unknown environmental risk factors?"

Current federal law does not require chemicals to be evaluated for neurotoxicity, and many neurotoxins can be found in commercial and industrial products. Safe Chemicals, Healthy Families is an organization pushing for the passing of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2012, which seeks to identify chemicals that might contribute to the cause of autism.

Children are exposed to thousands of synthetic chemicals; 200 chemicals are shown to be neurotoxic to human adults, yet few of them have been tested for neurodevelopmental toxicity. These high-production-volume chemicals can be found in consumer goods, cosmetics, medication, fuel, and building materials.

Neither Landrigan nor Stanford's study suggest that genetic factors do not play a role in the causes of autism, but rather environmental factors work in concert with genetics. The goal of future research is to determine which environmental chemicals cause autism, and to restrict their use to help prevent autism.

Photo by C. G. P. Grey