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Inhalation of exhaust gas increases the risk of developing autism
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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A team of specialists from the University of California, under the leadership of Professor Heather Foulk, discovered that living near a road with intensive traffic may adversely affect a child's health. In particular, increase the risk of developing autism.
It is to blame for this the suspended particles of exhaust gases, the inhalation of which is very harmful for pregnant women and for children in the first year of life.
The work of scientists is published in the scientific journal "Archives of General Psychiatry".
Autism is a disorder characterized by problems in social interaction and communication that accompany a person all his life. This violation is developing because of a combination of genetic and external factors.
Experts emphasize that the data obtained by them are very important and confirm that the effect of external factors affects the development of autism, but how this effect is implemented is still difficult because of a lack of information.
In the UK, there are approximately 600,000 children and adults with autism. Approximately one child in a hundred has symptoms of autism only two years old.
A total of 279 people with autism and 245 children without developmental deviations participated in the study.
The authors of the work say that air measurements for the presence of nitrogen dioxide, road dust and solid particles were made at the local level - regionally and directly in the apartment.
Also, experts assessed the negative effect of exhaust gases on pregnant women in every trimester of pregnancy.
As a result of the research, it became clear that children who live near roads with heavy traffic (for this reason, they have a high concentration of suspended particles in the atmosphere) suffered from autism three times more often than children who lived away from active traffic .
The authors hope that further research will allow them to move further in the study of mechanisms that work in autism, which will help develop or improve therapeutic strategies to combat this violation.
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