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Traffic-Related Air Pollution, Particulate Matter, and Autism
Open accessAbstract
CONTEXT: Autism is a heterogeneous disorder with genetic and environmental factors likely contributing to its origins. Examination of hazardous pollutants has suggested the importance of air toxics in the etiology of autism, yet little research has examined its association with local levels of air pollution using residence-specific exposure assignments. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between traffic-related air pollution, air quality, and autism. DESIGN: This population-based case-control study includes data obtained from children with autism and control children with typical development who were enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study in California. The mother's address from the birth certificate and addresses reported from a residential history questionnaire were used to estimate exposure for each trimester of pregnancy and first year of life. Traffic-related air pollution was assigned to each location using a line-source air-quality dispersion model. Regional air pollutant measures were based on the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System data. Logistic regression models compared estimated and measured pollutant levels for children with autism and for control children with typical development. SETTING: Case-control study from California. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 279 children with autism and a total of 245 control children with typical development. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Crude and multivariable adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for autism. RESULTS: Children with autism were more likely to live at residences that had the highest quartile of exposure to traffic-related air pollution, during gestation (AOR, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.20-3.31]) and during the first year of life (AOR, 3.10 [95% CI, 1.76-5.57]), compared with control children. Regional exposure measures of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter less than 2.5 and 10 μm in diameter (PM2.5 and PM10) were also associated with autism during gestation (exposure to nitrogen dioxide: AOR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.37-3.09]; exposure to PM2.5: AOR, 2.08 [95% CI, 1.93-2.25]; exposure to PM10: AOR, 2.17 [95% CI, 1.49-3.16) and during the first year of life (exposure to nitrogen dioxide: AOR, 2.06 [95% CI, 1.37-3.09]; exposure to PM2.5: AOR, 2.12 [95% CI, 1.45-3.10]; exposure to PM10: AOR, 2.14 [95% CI, 1.46-3.12]). All regional pollutant estimates were scaled to twice the standard deviation of the distribution for all pregnancy estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to traffic-related air pollution, nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5, and PM10 during pregnancy and during the first year of life was associated with autism. Further epidemiological and toxicological examinations of likely biological pathways will help determine whether these associations are causal.
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“In this line, Volk et al. (92) found that exposure during pregnancy and the first year of life to traffic-related air pollution was associated with autism (DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria based on the ADI-R and ADOS scales).”
From Gene × Environment Interactions in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms (2014) · cites this paper as [92]
In the citing paper
“Children residing in homes with the highest levels of modeled air pollution (>31.8 ppb) were three times as likely to have autism compared to children residing in homes with the lowest levels of exposure (<9.7 ppb).”
From Gene × Environment Interactions in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms (2014) · cites this paper as [92]
In the citing paper
“An increasing probability of autism was seen with increasing air pollution (nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter less than 2.5 and 10 μm in diameter: PM2.5 and PM10) with a plateau reached at a threshold above 25–30 ppb.”
From Gene × Environment Interactions in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms (2014) · cites this paper as [92]
In the citing paper
“research examining air pollution exposure employing indirect measures of exposure (such as distance to a freeway where emissions were measured) have reported associations to autism [256], while studies measuring emission levels close to the individuals’ homes have not [257].”
From The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [256]
In the citing paper
“Using a leave-one-out analysis, we identified one study in particular [52] that was contributing to the majority of this heterogeneity.”
From A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Multiple Airborne Pollutants and Autism Spectrum Disorder (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“One additional included study [53] also reported effect estimates for both PM10 and PM2.5 but ultimately was not included in the meta-analysis because upon personal communication with the study authors [64] it was determined that the study population was a subset of the population reported in a previous article [52] that was already included in the meta-analyses.”
From A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Multiple Airborne Pollutants and Autism Spectrum Disorder (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Volk, H. E., Lurmann, F., Penfold, B., Hertz-Picciotto, I., & McConnell, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Corresponding author
- Volk, Heather E.
- Venue
- JAMA Psychiatry
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2013-01-01
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 71
- ISSN
- 2168-622X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4019010
- OpenAlex
- W2095096359
- Cited by
- 638
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 54 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 22
- FWCI
- 27.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- JAMA Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES011627, R21ES019002, P01ES011627, ES019002, L40 ES020599, ES015359, ES013578, R01ES015359, ES007048, P01ES011269, R01ES016535, ES11269, P30ES007048)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, traffic-related air pollution, particulate matter, PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, prenatal exposure, early childhood exposure, residential exposure assessment, air quality, autism etiology, environmental risk factors, hazardous air pollutants
- MeSH terms
- Air Pollution, Autistic Disorder, California, Child, Preschool, Environmental Monitoring, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Nitrogen Dioxide, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Surveys and Questionnaires, Case-Control Studies, Particulate Matter
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