Study Links Autism Risk to Distance from Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources

Research led by Raymond Palmer, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the first to show a statistical relationship between autism prevalence and proximity to mercury-emitting site.

Newswise — How do mercury emissions affect pregnant mothers, the unborn and toddlers? Do the level of emissions impact autism rates? Does it matter whether a mercury-emitting source is 10 miles away from families versus 20 miles? Is the risk of autism greater for children who live closer to the pollution source?

A newly published study of Texas school district data and industrial mercury-release data, conducted by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, indeed shows a statistically significant link between pounds of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates. It also shows—for the first time in scientific literature—a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source.

“This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism,” said lead author Raymond F. Palmer, Ph.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The article is in the journal Health & Place.

Dr. Palmer, Stephen Blanchard, Ph.D., of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and Robert Wood of the UT Health Science Center found that community autism prevalence is reduced by 1 percent to 2 percent with each 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.

“This study was not designed to understand which individuals in the population are at risk due to mercury exposure,” Dr. Palmer said. “However, it does suggest generally that there is greater autism risk closer to the polluting source.”

The study should encourage further investigations designed to determine the multiple routes of mercury exposure. “The effects of persistent, low-dose exposure to mercury pollution, in addition to fish consumption, deserve attention,” Dr. Palmer said. “Ultimately, we will want to know who in the general population is at greatest risk based on genetic susceptibilities such as subtle deficits in the ability to detoxify heavy metals.”

The new study findings are consistent with a host of other studies that confirm higher amounts of mercury in plants, animals and humans the closer they are to the pollution source. The price on children may be the highest.

“We suspect low-dose exposures to various environmental toxicants, including mercury, that occur during critical windows of neural development among genetically susceptible children may increase the risk for developmental disorders such as autism,” the authors wrote.

Study highlights

• Mercury-release data examined were from 39 coal-fired power plants and 56 industrial facilities in Texas.
• Autism rates examined were from 1,040 Texas school districts.
• For every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by all industrial sources in Texas into the environment in 1998, there was a corresponding 2.6 percent increase in autism rates in the Texas school districts in 2002.
• For every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by Texas power plants in 1998, there was a corresponding 3.7 percent increase in autism rates in Texas school districts in 2002.
• Autism prevalence diminished 1 percent to 2 percent for every 10 miles from the source.
• Mercury exposure through fish consumption is well documented, but very little is known about exposure routes through air and ground water.
• There is evidence that children and other developing organisms are more susceptible to neurobiological effects of mercury.

Implications

“We need to be concerned about global mercury emissions since a substantial proportion of mercury releases are spread around the world by long-range air and ocean currents,” Dr. Palmer said. “Steps for controlling and eliminating mercury pollution on a worldwide basis may be advantageous. This entails greener, non-mercury-polluting technologies.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated environmental mercury releases at 158 million tons annually nationwide in the late 1990s, the time period studied by the Texas team. Most exposures were said to come from coal-fired utility plants (33 percent of exposures), municipal/medical waste incinerators (29 percent) and commercial/industrial boilers (18 percent). Cement plants also release mercury.

With the enactment of clean air legislation and other measures, mercury deposition into the environment is decreasing slightly.

Limitations

Dr. Palmer and his colleagues pointed out the study did not reflect the true community prevalence rates of autism because children younger than school age are not counted in the Texas Education Agency data system. The 1:500 autism rates in the study are lower than the 1:150 autism rates in recent reports of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Furthermore, the authors note that distance was not calculated from individual homes to the pollution source but from central points in school districts that varied widely in area.

Data sources

Data for environmentally released mercury were from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Toxics Release Inventory. Data for releases by coal-fired power plants came from the same inventory and from the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality. Data for school district autism came from the Texas Education Agency.

Citation

Palmer, R.F., et al., Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a predictor of autism prevalence. Health & Place (2008), doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2008.02.001.

Eli Stone Tonight

Everyone remember to watch Eli Stone on ABC tonight(or at least record it for later). There's lots of press about it, in case you didn't know that because you've been busy preparing for an IEP or something else. It's a new show, and the topic is vaccines and autism. Yeah! I'd prefer to form my own opinion instead of reading later what other's think.

Cal-Oregon Unvaccinated Survey

Cal-Oregon Unvaccinated Survey

"We surveyed over 9,000 boys in California and Oregon and found that vaccinated boys had a 155% greater chance of having a neurological disorder like ADHD or autism than unvaccinated boys." -Generation Rescue, June 26, 2007

This survey is indeed compelling. However, for the record, I don't completely buy everything Generation Rescue has to say (not this study, but the organization itself). They are too extreme for my taste, but what would we do without our extremists? Especially Michael Moore? I think most factions within the Autism Community have something to offer. I still hope for the day where factions will honor and respect each other. Since vaccines are in the news a lot again, I don't want anyone to infer that I am a vaccine extremist. I'm just commenting on the news du jour. Hopefully we'll have more interesting things to share at some point. Click here for the study. Also, take a look at the Generation Rescue website. They have a lot of good information.

Lenny Schafer's Commentary on Vaccines in Court

I just read this in today's Schafer Report. I think it's perfect so I thought I'd post it. More soon...I've been buried. Ashley

Brief Commentary: The editorial conclusion, "Research to discover what
causes autism, including possible environmental triggers, must be a top
priority" is disingenuous for the author to assert. The purpose of this
editorial, and of all the experts who labor to deny the growth of autism, is
to sow complacency -- to turn the public's attention away from autism.
This is a backhand defense of mercury containing vaccines as the cause
of autism. If there is no "epidemic", then there is nothing there to cause
it. It's an instant alibi for mercury tainted vaccines. The reality is that
the CDC has arduously avoided conducting epidemiological research to track
the real incidence and prevalence of autism, despite all "better diagnosing"
over the last dozen years.
Why, with all the growing suffering of autism across the country has
the CDC avoided counting our children? Perhaps, they already know the
answers and are willing to sacrifice thousands of children in the name of
promoting herd immunity -- for the greater good against infectious diseases.
This may sound good in theory, unless you have a child with autism.
- Lenny Schafer

Genes verses the Environment. You got to be kidding!

ABC Reports New Autism Study Finds Genetics, Not Toxins, to Blame for Rise in Cases
But network failed to remind viewers it gave Robert Kennedy a soapbox about mercury as cause for disease.

By Ken Shepherd
Business & Media Institute
2/19/2007

A new study by the Autism Genome Project (AGP) chalks up the disease’s primary cause to genetics, not environmental pollution, ABC’s Bill Blakemore reported on the February 18 “World News.” But in 2005, media outlets including ABC showcased an environmental activist fingering mercury as the culprit. “Today’s study pinpoints the probable culprit: not just one, but many genes and abnormalities,” Blakemore told his evening newscast audience. “The evidence suggests that autism is over 90 percent caused by genes,” said Dr. Joseph BuxBaum of the AGP in a sound bite aired during Blakemore’s report. But back in 2005, ABC and other media outlets latched onto environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s assertion that mercury in vaccines was to blame for the trend of rising autism cases. As the Business & Media Institute (BMI) reported in the summer of 2005, CBS, The New York Times, and ABC all paid heed to Kennedy’s claims, even though many scientists disputed it, and Kennedy himself lacks the medical or scientific credentials to have argued a link between mercury and autism. Indeed, the June 22, 2005, “World News Tonight” devoted a four-minute segment to a story it would later report was completely untrue. Anchor Charles Gibson gave air time to Kennedy, but documented evidence that overwhelmingly contradicted the environmental lawyer’s claims. “The researchers say this study shows environmental toxins are not, as some argue, a major cause of autism,” ABC’s Blakemore noted in his February 18 story, but without mentioning the attention his network paid to Kennedy and his role in furthering the mercury scare. BMI also noted at the time that CBS “Evening News” and The New York Times also advanced Kennedy’s claims as one side of a medical debate, even though they noted the scientific evidence weighed heavily against Kennedy.

Another great example of slanted, inaccurate reporting. When will the media realize what damage they do when they print a headline like that? That toxins aren't to blame? It's almost idiotic and certainly laughable. And how about that 90% number, not backed by anything, a guess. Dangerous dangerous dangerous! This disorder is still unexplained fully, and they can make an assessement like that? Do they realize how confusing this is to the general public? I think they do. The jury is still out on what genes, what toxins, what blend of what that causes a unique blend of ASD for each person with this disability.

Don't get me wrong, I don't belong to the mercury faction of the Autism Community. However, I do believe mercury is one of the culprits to some outlined by those factions. However, as I seem to repeat myself, it's just not one thing that causes all Autism. How could it be?

How many parents will just read that headline and pop open another can of food filled with metals, preservatives and additives? How many parents will breathe a sigh of relief and lay down this year's gallons of pesticides, vaccinate without doing their homework, and buy home products filled with endocrine disrupters and other toxins? How many parents will turn their back on reports about our environment since hey, it doesn't contribute at all to ASD disorders? A pregnant mom may get all her testing done for Down Syndrome and other major disorders and think she's home free of ADHD, developmental delays, and Autism?

This type of "reporting" does nothing to raise awareness about Autism and the genetic and environmental causes/triggers. It only sells ratings.