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A list of chemicals that cause autism has been compiled
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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American researchers from the Mount Sina School of Medicine have published a list of ten chemicals that have every chance of being responsible for the development of autism in children. Scientists urge to focus on research that will make it possible to identify probable exogenous causes of this disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Autism is diagnosed in 400,000 to 600,000 of the 4 million children born in the United States each year. According to reliable data from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 3% of all childhood neurobehavioral disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are caused by environmental toxicants, and 25% are caused by the interaction of the environment with genetic predisposition. However, clear exogenous causes are still unknown. Although genetic studies have shown that autism spectrum disorders and some other neurodevelopmental disorders have a strong hereditary component, almost everyone believes that the environment also plays a large role.
Experts have attempted to assess the role of toxins in the development of autism, since knowledge of the exogenous circumstances of diseases associated with neurological development will make it possible to avoid such disorders.
The top ten suspected culprits for autism included lead, methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, organophosphate pesticides, organochlorine pesticides, endocrine disruptors, automobile exhaust, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, brominated flame retardants, and perfluorinated compounds.
Four other papers call for research to identify environmental causes of autism. One study, conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, found preliminary evidence of a link between smoking during pregnancy and Asperger's syndrome and other forms of autism. Two studies by researchers at the University of California-Davis showed that PCBs disrupt brain development. Finally, the same team found a link between pesticide exposure and autism.
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