I have a few problems with this article. It is written like this finding is the break through discovery of the year and definitive in causing autism.
The major problem I see here is people without a scientific sceptical mind could possibly assume that this proof without truly reading the full report. This is how silly things end up on the news like "MMR vaccine causes autism". I decided to delve in deeper and actually read the report. To understand my evaluation I must prepare a background for you.
The study conducted was to test whether exposure to pollutants increases the 'likelihood' of ASD. researchers tested nurses in differing regions and measured the amount of pollutants these women were exposed to. Specifically nine months prior to conception, during pregnancy and nine months post-partum.
The results indicated that you had a higher risk of having a child with ASD if you are exposed to high amounts of pollutants/ particle matter the size of 2.5 micrometers during the third trimester of the pregnancy.
There were inconsistencies in the methods of the report which both myself and the authors picked up on. A high percentage of the children effected by ASDs mothers smoked through their pregnancies, and home pollutants were not measured during the study. Also their work environments were not measured and being all nurses could they have been exposed to some chemical before or during pregnancy e.g. were they surgical nurses exposed to small doses of anaesthetic gasses?
The authors of the study state that "Our findings support the possibility of an effect of maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy" Not our findings show that pollutants cause autism.
This website should not be claiming that this study found links to autism and pollutants without reading the report properly first.
Moral of the story ...Don't believe everything that you read.
Link to the article
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/air-pollution-linked-autism?tgt=nr
Reference
Raz., R., Roberts, A. L.,
Lyall, K., Hart, J. E., Laden, F., Just, A. C., . . . Weisskopf, M. G. (2014).
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Particulate Matter Air Pollution before, during,
and after Pregnancy: A Nested Case–Control Analysis within the Nurses’ Health
Study II Cohort. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2014/12/ehp.1408133.acco.pdf doi:/10.1289/ehp.1408133
There are so many ideas that get put into the media these days that has so little validity but claims to be true which can have disastrous implications on the general public. People who don't bother to check the science behind it (which is almost everyone) take it for fact. Before the health risks of smoking became evident, advertisements stated that "smokers cough" was actually good for the body. These types of statements with no scientific back up need to be addressed BEFORE the media gets hold of it so innocent people aren't affected by it because they naivelybelieve it
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