A UMass Amherst study has found a possible link between prenatal exposure to some common household chemicals and autism.
The hormone-disrupting chemicals, known as phthalates, are found in products like shampoo, fragrance and pesticides. The study found that babies exposed in the womb to higher concentrations of those chemicals were more likely to develop autistic traits, like social impairment.
But in the study of 600 children, the autism link was only present with boys — and it went away when the mothers took folic acid in their first trimester.
UMass epidemiologist Youssef Oulhote said that since folic acid in pregnancy is already recommended to help prevent birth defects, "That may constitute a very effective and easy intervention [to reduce the risk of autism] instead of waiting for regulations and other things of these chemicals that may take a long time."
While the link between autistic traits and phthalates was small in the study sample, Oulhote said the potential effects are amplified when you consider the high prevalance of these chemicals in the environment.
"Everybody is exposed," he said. "So even if the effect [in the study] might be small, the fact that they're ubiquitous makes it very significant on the population level."
Boys seem more susceptible to the chemical exposure than girls, which Oulhote said is likely a result of gender differences in hormonal systems.
Oulhote said he hopes other researchers will try to replicate the results of this study. He also recommends future studies look into the interaction of genetics and the environment, exploring whether some women and children are genetically predisposed to the effects of hormone-disrupting chemicals.
"I would characterize this as a study that we can build on," he said. "Basically, there is no single study that establishes a final link [to autism]. This science progresses and evolves by accumulation. And we think this may open avenues, basically, to look at how these chemicals may affect autism likelihood or autism risk."
