Pollution plays a role in autism and dyslexia, say Israeli and foreign scientists

[Jefferson23]

Conclusions emerge from presentations by Israeli and foreign scientists at a conference on the relationship between pollution and children's health problems.

By Zafrir Rinat

Growing evidence suggests pollution plays a significant role in developmental problems among children, including autism, attention deficit disorder and even dyslexia, it was revealed at a conference on the subject in Israel Wednesday.

These conclusions emerged from presentations by Israeli and foreign scientists at a conference on the relationship between pollution and children's health problems. The conference, sponsored by the Environment and Health Fund, was part of the annual convention of the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association.

One of the principal speakers at the conference was Prof. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who noted that many countries worldwide have reported a sharp rise in recent years in the prevalence of development disorders such as autism and ADD. This rise cannot be attributed solely to genetic factors or to higher rates of diagnosis, he said, and today, even researchers who once thought environmental factors could explain only a small fraction of the increased incidence of autism, for instance, have been convinced that it accounts for at least 25 percent of the rise.

Exposure to substances such as lead, mercury and pesticides is particularly dangerous for children, because they are more sensitive to these materials - in part because their brains are still developing, Landrigan said. A child's body also breaks down poisonous materials less efficiently than the adult body does, and any given quantity of chemical has more of an impact on a child because it constitutes a larger proportion of his body mass. Additionally, most children will spend more years being exposed to poisonous substances than adults will, he said.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pollution-plays-a-role-in-autism-and-dyslexia-say-israeli-and-foreign-scientists-1.398829