The DOI matches its Crossref record; 235 of the 240 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 150 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence
Open accessAbstract
In the past decade, the number of epidemiological publications addressing environmental chemical exposures and autism has grown tremendously. These studies are important because it is now understood that environmental factors play a larger role in causing autism than previously thought and because they address modifiable risk factors that may open up avenues for the primary prevention of the disability associated with autism. In this review, we covered studies of autism and estimates of exposure to tobacco, air pollutants, volatile organic compounds and solvents, metals (from air, occupation, diet, dental amalgams, and thimerosal-containing vaccines), pesticides, and organic endocrine-disrupting compounds such as flame retardants, non-stick chemicals, phthalates, and bisphenol A. We included studies that had individual-level data on autism, exposure measures pertaining to pregnancy or the 1st year of life, valid comparison groups, control for confounders, and adequate sample sizes. Despite the inherent error in the measurement of many of these environmental exposures, which is likely to attenuate observed associations, some environmental exposures showed associations with autism, especially traffic-related air pollutants, some metals, and several pesticides, with suggestive trends for some volatile organic compounds (e.g., methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, and styrene) and phthalates. Whether any of these play a causal role requires further study. Given the limited scope of these publications, other environmental chemicals cannot be ruled out, but have not yet been adequately studied. Future research that addresses these and additional environmental chemicals, including their most common routes of exposures, with accurate exposure measurement pertaining to several developmental windows, is essential to guide efforts for the prevention of the neurodevelopmental damage that manifests in autism symptoms.
Overview
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Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This review synthesizes epidemiological research on environmental chemical exposures and autism, focusing on exposures during conception, pregnancy, and the first postnatal year. It concludes that some traffic-related air pollutants, metals, and pesticides show associations with autism, with suggestive evidence for certain volatile organic compounds and phthalates, but causality remains unproven.
Key findings
- Among 32 included publications, associations were most consistent for traffic-related and criteria air pollutants (e.g., PM2.5, PM10, NO2), some metals, and several pesticides; associations were often stronger for late pregnancy and the first year of life.
- Direct maternal smoking during pregnancy showed no strong causal link with autism overall, though a possible signal for higher-functioning autism was complicated by sociodemographic confounding.
- Thimerosal-containing vaccines showed mostly null results, with most odds ratios between 0.9 and 1.2 and confidence intervals crossing the null; exceptions were imprecise or inconsistent with biologic plausibility.
- Some volatile organic compounds (methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, styrene) had consistently elevated associations, and phthalates were suggestive; evidence for PCBs, flame retardants, non-stick chemicals, and bisphenol A was inconclusive.
Methods
- The authors reviewed human population-based epidemiological studies published in English-language peer-reviewed journals before March 1, 2014, requiring individual-level autism data, exposure during conception/pregnancy/first postnatal year, valid comparison groups, confounder control, and adequate sample size or precision.
- Searches used PubMed, Google Scholar, personal libraries, and citation tracking; 58 publications met initial inclusion criteria, 26 were excluded for validity or precision concerns, leaving 32 included publications, some reporting multiple chemicals.
- Included designs were cohort, nested case–control, and case–control studies; autism measures included clinical diagnoses and continuous autism phenotype measures, while exposure measures included biomarkers, residential proximity, air pollution models, questionnaires, and registries.
Limitations
- The paper states that exposure measurement error is common and likely attenuates observed associations, and that many chemicals and common exposure routes remain inadequately studied.
- The paper notes that small samples, wide confidence intervals, residual confounding (e.g., socioeconomic status, season, traffic noise, co-pollutants, genetics), and etiologic heterogeneity may dilute or mask true effects, and that causal conclusions cannot yet be drawn.
- Evident from the text: this is a narrative review rather than a systematic meta-analysis, with subjective decisions about including one estimate per chemical–autism question and no formal assessment of publication bias.
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Claims the paper makes
88 Not checked yet · 53 No basis given · 39 Own interpretation · 18 Own method · 5 Own result · 1 Check pending
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Associations between maternal smoking during pregnancy and higher-functioning autism were elevated compared to associations with lower-functioning autism for two studies”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [51] Lee, 2011, Brief report: maternal smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders, J Autism Dev Disord source
- Not checked yetcites [52] Kalkbrenner, 2012, Maternal smoking during pregnancy and the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, using data from the autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, Environ Health Perspect source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The published literature on the role of tobacco is currently limited by the absence of any measures of secondhand smoke exposure to the mother during pregnancy.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The importance of social class confounding for studies of tobacco and autism was affirmed in the results: associations were altered after adjustment for factors such as maternal education or income.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Two studies examining the continuous autism phenotype also suggested that tobacco may impact higher-functioning autism (Fig. 1).53,54”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [53] Indredavik, 2007, Prenatal smoking exposure and psychiatric symptoms in adolescence, Acta Paediatr source
- Not checked yetcites [54] Ronald, 2010, Exploring the relation between prenatal and neonatal complications and later autistic-like features in a representative community sample of twins, Child Dev source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Seven publications of traffic-related and criteria air pollutants met our inclusion criteria for further consideration (Table 6).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For almost every pollutant and every study, associations were stronger for exposures in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and the 1st year of life compared to in earlier pregnancy (Fig. 3).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“a few groups of VOCs (paints and chlorinated solvents) showed elevated associations compared to other groups”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Results for VOC exposures and autism were scattered above and below the null, a pattern expected to result from sampling error when no causal relationship exists”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the published literature shows associations between traffic-related and criteria air pollutants and the development of autism”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“most studies have not accounted for the correlations between multiple chemical pollutants or the differences in air pollutant mixtures between the West and East coasts of the U.S.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 89
- Probably not a substantial claim. 35
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Results of these studies were scattered above and below the null, with most confidence intervals crossing the null, consistent with no association between direct maternal smoking in pregnancy and Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, overall (Fig. 1).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In the U.S. and Canada, associations were higher after adjusting for sociodemographic variables,52,57 whereas in European countries (Sweden, Finland, and Norway), associations were attenuated after adjustment.51,53,58,59”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [52] Kalkbrenner, 2012, Maternal smoking during pregnancy and the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, using data from the autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, Environ Health Perspect source
- Not checked yetcites [57] Burstyn, 2010, Autism spectrum disorders, maternal characteristics and obstetric complications among singletons born in Alberta, Canada, Chronic Dis Can source
- Not checked yetcites [51] Lee, 2011, Brief report: maternal smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders, J Autism Dev Disord source
- Not checked yetcites [53] Indredavik, 2007, Prenatal smoking exposure and psychiatric symptoms in adolescence, Acta Paediatr source
- Not checked yetcites [58] Larsson, 2009, Associations between indoor environmental factors and parental-reported autistic spectrum disorders in children 6–8 years of age, Neurotoxicology source
- Not checked yetcites [59] Tran, 2013, Smoking during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder in a Finnish national birth cohort: smoking during pregnancy and risk of autism, Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Although confounding by such family social characteristics was expected, the degree of this confounding was not strong and acted in opposite directions across studies, attenuating ORs in some studies71,72 and producing elevated ORs in other studies.73,74”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [71] Volk, 2011, Residential proximity to freeways and autism in the CHARGE study, Environ Health Perspect source
- Not checked yetcites [72] Volk, 2013, Traffic-related air pollution, particulate matter, and autism, J Am Med Assoc Psychiatry
- Not checked yetcites [73] Becerra, 2012, Ambient air pollution and autism in Los Angeles County, California, Environ Health Perspect source
- Not checked yetcites [74] Kalkbrenner, 2013, Exposure to ambient coarse particulate matter by gestational period and autism spectrum disorders in North Carolina and California, Am J Epidemiol
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Results for the included studies showed elevated associations between autism and measures of mixed air pollutant exposures and diesel particulate matter (Fig. 2) and for the individual air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, and NO2, with less consistently elevated associations for NO, ozone, and CO (Fig. 3).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The size of the ORs was not consistent across studies, despite the standardized comparison of air pollutant concentrations that we calculated, for example, ORs were around 1.5 per 10 ppb increase in NO2 for the California CHARGE study (Fig. 3, red),72 but only 1.04 for the California Department of Developmental Services study (Fig. 3, green).73”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [72] Volk, 2013, Traffic-related air pollution, particulate matter, and autism, J Am Med Assoc Psychiatry
- Not checked yetcites [73] Becerra, 2012, Ambient air pollution and autism in Los Angeles County, California, Environ Health Perspect source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Across all metals in these studies, results were predominantly above the null, a pattern consistent with either higher risk due to metal exposure or consistent residual confounding across designs, confounding not highly likely given that all of these studies adjusted for socioeconomic status and maternal age, but possible”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Adjustment for socioeconomic status and maternal age is sufficient to make residual confounding an unlikely explanation for the metal-autism associations.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For the metals chromium and nickel, the ORs were of consistent magnitude across studies, although the exposure concentration comparisons differed somewhat; if combined in a meta-analysis, the expectation would be that precision would improve, resolving elevated associations”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“In one study, lead, and, to a lesser extent, manganese, appeared inversely related to autism risk, which could have been caused by a stronger association with the comparison group in this design: children with speech and language impairment”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [16] Kalkbrenner, 2010, Perinatal exposure to hazardous air pollutants and autism spectrum disorders at age 8, Epidemiology source
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: The comparison group of children with speech and language impairment in one metal study may have a stronger association with lead or manganese, causing inverse findings.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“no studies addressed the most common source of arsenic: drinking water, and no studies addressed lead exposure from ingestion of items contaminated with house dust and soil”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For all but two of the associations between thimerosal and autism, results were most consistent with a pattern due to chance, demonstrated by ORs of small magnitude (most between 0.9 and 1.2), above and below the null, and with confidence intervals spanning the null, suggesting that thimerosal does not increase autism risk”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: A pattern of small odds ratios around the null with confidence intervals spanning the null indicates no causal association for thimerosal.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These studies generally supported an association with elevated risk of autism with pesticide exposure, with most point estimates above the null, many with large enough impacts and statistical precision to rule out sampling error”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A period of susceptibility in early pregnancy was suggested by one study, but this trend did not hold in other studies and requires confirmation.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“many pesticides have not been studied in relation to autism, though most give rise to neurotoxicity”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [143] Roberts, 2012, Pesticide exposure in children, Pediatrics source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Elevated associations were not limited to one pesticide class, but were found for OC, OP, and other types of pesticides, and were not limited to one exposure route, but seen across studies addressing agricultural drift, use of flea/tick pet treatments, and dietary sources as reflected by biomarkers”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“However, defining a discrete disorder that reflects a common causal pathway remains elusive. The defining variables are not known.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Susceptibilities and Heterogeneity of Response to Xenobiotic Exposures > Different Responses Across the Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The number of chemicals not yet studied is large—chemicals that are widely detectable in humans and have animal or mechanistic evidence of the endocrine, immune, epigenetic, and other pathophysiologies that may be involved in causing autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Conclusions
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“While initial studies suggested a strong genetic heritability of autism, recent studies with larger sample sizes have demonstrated a lesser influence, including a study of over 14,000 children with autism in Sweden that demonstrated a heritability of 50%, supporting an equally strong role for environmental risk factors.6”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Introduction and Scope of Review
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [6] Sandin, 2014, The familial risk of autism, J Am Med Assoc source
boostedcorrelationaln = 14,000- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“when these studies include an individual measure of autism, proper confounding control is possible and they are not subject to the ecological fallacy.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Individual-Level Data on Autism Diagnoses or Behaviors
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Community-level exposure estimates are reasonable proxies for individual-level exposure.
In the paper
“250 xenobiotic chemicals were detected in biological samples from a 2013 representative sample of the U.S. in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.12”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Introduction and Scope of Review
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [12] US Department of Health and Human Services. Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, Updated Tables. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Sep2013.pdf; 2013 Accessed 16.12.13.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“all children are tested and so an outside comparison group is not needed”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Individual-Level Data on Autism Diagnoses or Behaviors
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“out of a chemical universe topping 80,000 agents, over 1000 have laboratory evidence of neurotoxicity, but only a small fraction have been studied in humans during critical windows of development.10,11”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Introduction and Scope of Review
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We have included these studies because the psychometric autism screening tests used have been validated”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Individual-Level Data on Autism Diagnoses or Behaviors
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In aggregate outcome data, it cannot be known that the individual experiencing the exposure is the same individual within the group that had an autism diagnosis. Furthermore, it is not possible to account for individual-level confounding influences in this type of design”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Individual-Level Data on Autism Diagnoses or Behaviors
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Measures of the continuous autism phenotype in a general population differ from clinical diagnoses because fewer study children will exhibit symptoms at the upper extreme that would lead to an autism diagnosis, and because the behavioral traits measured may differ from the constructs that led a clinician to diagnose autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Individual-Level Data on Autism Diagnoses or Behaviors
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Findings from controlled laboratory studies on other animals are important in elucidating mechanisms, screening many exposures, and creating highly controlled conditions that strengthen causal inference, but cannot directly address the full spectrum of autism or the real-world human living condition.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Population-Based Human Studies
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We have excluded some estimates with poor precision, which we defined as estimates with a confidence interval ratio or difference (upper 95% CI divided by, for ORs, or with a subtraction of, for slopes, the lower 95% CI) >10. These estimates arose when fewer than five children with autism had the xenobiotic exposure, a commonly used criterion of insufficient sample size.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Adequate Sample Sizes and Statistical Precision
plainn = 5- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“metals in hair during childhood may indicate altered metal metabolism and clearance, or altered diet or medication use, any of which could result from autism, instead of contributing to the development of autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Prenatal and Early Postnatal Exposures
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Study estimates that have greater precision (more narrow confidence intervals) contribute more strongly to the accumulated evidence, for example, they carry more weight when included in a meta-analysis.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Adequate Sample Sizes and Statistical Precision
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“disadvantaged racial/ethnic or sociodemographic groups have been shown to have lower rates of diagnosis1,29 and up to 20% of children are not diagnosed by 8 years of age,1”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Valid Comparisons
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [1] Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2010 Principal Investigators, 2014, Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2010, MMWR Surveill Summ
- Not checked yetcites [29] Mandell, 2009, Racial/ethnic disparities in the identification of children with autism spectrum disorders, Am J Public Health source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Later pregnancy and early postnatal life are additionally implicated by accumulating molecular and pathological evidence pointing to altered neuronal connectivity and a resultant perturbation in signaling pathways, systems under intense development in these periods.25,26”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Prenatal and Early Postnatal Exposures
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [25] Stamou, 2013, Neuronal connectivity as a convergent target of gene×environment interactions that confer risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Neurotoxicol Teratol source
- Not checked yetcites [26] Levitt, 2009, The genetic and neurobiologic compass points toward common signaling dysfunctions in autism spectrum disorders, J Clin Invest source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Tobacco use in pregnancy was measured by parent recall, which is subject to some degree of under-reporting because of stigma, and by medical data (e.g., birth certificates) that was collected prospectively and considered reasonably valid for measuring in utero tobacco exposure,50 but was still subject to under-reporting.36”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [50] Vinikoor, 2010, Reliability of variables on the North Carolina birth certificate: a comparison with directly queried values from a cohort study, Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol source
- Not checked yetcites [36] Dietz, 2011, Estimates of nondisclosure of cigarette smoking among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age in the United States, Am J Epidemiol source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“By limiting to exposures pertaining to these periods, it is assured that the environmental chemical exposures occurred prior to the development of autism symptoms and could not result from the sequelae of autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Prenatal and Early Postnatal Exposures
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“An alternate explanation of an elevated (or reduced) measure of association between an environmental chemical and autism is sampling error, often ruled out using standard statistical testing and p values.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Review Methodology: Evaluating the Epidemiological Evidence > Adequate Sample Sizes and Statistical Precision
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A possible link with higher-functioning autism was suggested, but complicated by sociodemographic confounding and the phenotypic overlap with other neurodevelopmental disabilities.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Women who continue to smoke when pregnant may be genetically predisposed toward addictive behavior, which in turn may pass along increased genetic loading for neuropathologies that are related to autism risk (e.g., through dopamine or serotonin pathways), complicating the study of tobacco and neurodevelopment.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [59] Tran, 2013, Smoking during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder in a Finnish national birth cohort: smoking during pregnancy and risk of autism, Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although levels of some air pollutants have declined in the U.S. because of the Clean Air Act and vehicle emissions standards, these declines have not put an end to concerns about the health impacts of air pollutants, in part because the developmental impacts of current levels of ambient air pollutants have not been adequately studied.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Air pollutants enter the human body via inhalation and by direct translocation from the nose to the brain via the olfactory bulb.65”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [65] Oberdörster, 2004, Translocation of inhaled ultrafine particles to the brain, Inhal Toxicol source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“These patterns may reflect different practices of autism screening and health services access between the U.S. vs. Scandinavian countries, and this hypothesis has direct data support.60”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [60] Rai, 2012, Parental socioeconomic status and risk of offspring autism spectrum disorders in a Swedish population-based study, J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“secondhand smoke is a different chemical mixture than primary smoke, (2) there is evidence that secondhand smoke exhibits neurodevelopmental toxicity,61,62 and (3) it is a very common exposure.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Tobacco
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [61] Liu, 2013, Mother׳s environmental tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy and externalizing behavior problems in children, Neurotoxicology source
- Not checked yetcites [62] Chen, 2013, Is exposure to secondhand smoke associated with cognitive parameters of children and adolescents?—a systematic literature review, Ann Epidemiol source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Season of birth is also an important potential confounder because the occurrence of autism varies by season of conception for unknown reasons, and because criteria air pollutant concentrations exhibit strong seasonal gradients, so that an observed association between an air pollutant and autism may actually reflect another seasonal risk factor”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Smaller particulate pollutants penetrate more deeply into the lungs than larger particulates and have greater surface area, increasing their biological activity.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The studies had adequate sample sizes (ranging from 284 to 7594 children with autism) and controlled for appropriate confounders such as maternal age and parents’ education level.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plainn = 7,594- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The spatial patterns of air pollutant exposures coincide with other drivers of autism occurrence and detection, necessitating the strong control of socioeconomic confounding for questions about air pollutants and autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Season of birth was accounted for in one of the included studies.74”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [74] Kalkbrenner, 2013, Exposure to ambient coarse particulate matter by gestational period and autism spectrum disorders in North Carolina and California, Am J Epidemiol
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“It is possible that associations observed between autism and air pollutants from traffic could be due wholly or in part to traffic noise, although one attempt to adjust for noise in studies of traffic pollution has not borne this out.76”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [76] Guxens, 2012, Prenatal exposure to residential air pollution and infant mental development: modulation by antioxidants and detoxification factors, Environ Health Perspect source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“One potential confounding influence was not explored in any study: that of noise due to traffic. Noise can cause a stress response or interfere with sleep and has been associated with cognitive performance.75”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [75] Clark, 2007, The effect of transportation noise on health and cognitive development: a review of recent evidence, Int J Comp Psychol source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Fetuses can be exposed to the chemical constituents of the air pollutant itself (e.g., metals) and also to the elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines (or other resultant biologic factors) in the maternal circulation.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Air pollution exposures are widespread. While urban areas are hotspots for air pollutant mixtures—given that air pollutants arise from traffic and population density—rural areas can also have high levels of air pollutants when they are close to factories, waste incineration facilities, and the like.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Some air pollutants are known to induce oxidative stress and cause a systemic inflammatory reaction, a proposed mechanism whereby air pollutant exposures may perturb neurodevelopment.66–68”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [66] Levesque, 2011, Diesel exhaust activates and primes microglia: air pollution, neuroinflammation, and regulation of dopaminergic neurotoxicity, Environ Health Perspect source
- Not checked yetcites [67] Calderón-Garcidueñas, 2011, Exposure to severe urban air pollution influences cognitive outcomes, brain volume and systemic inflammation in clinically healthy children, Brain Cogn source
- Not checked yetcites [68] Sunyer, 2008, The neurological effects of air pollution in children, Eur Respir J source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These findings are bolstered by strong study designs and consistent findings across different means of measuring pollutant concentration and identifying children with autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Regulated and Traffic-Related Air Pollutants
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Lead and mercury have strong and consistent evidence of harming the developing nervous system, resulting in impairments such as the loss of IQ points and behavioral problems.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [42] Mendola, 2002, Environmental factors associated with a spectrum of neurodevelopmental deficits, Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“VOCs are ubiquitous and occur in combination with other VOCs and pollutants covered elsewhere in this review”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The primary route of exposure to VOCs is by inhalation, although VOCs can be ingested through contaminated drinking water and can be dermally absorbed.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [81] Brown, 1984, The role of skin absorption as a route of exposure for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in drinking water, Am J Public Health source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the biological half-lives of VOCs range from minutes to days, indicating frequent exposure to these chemicals”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“studies of VOCs and autism, despite being underpowered with some degree of exposure measurement error, have shown patterns suggestive of causal associations that point to the need for more research on certain VOCs”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Other VOCs are not cleared from culpability, but instead have simply not been adequately studied.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“VOC concentrations are generally 2–5 times higher in indoor compared to outdoor air”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [78] Wang, 2007, Volatile organic compounds in indoor environment and photocatalytic oxidation: state of the art, Environ Int source
- Not checked yetcites [79] Payne-Sturges, 2004, Personal exposure meets risk assessment: a comparison of measured and modeled exposures and risks in an urban community, Environ Health Perspect source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“VOCs interact with many organ systems, including the nervous system, as demonstrated by evidence in rats of neurodevelopmental toxicity.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [83] Gospe, 1998, Toluene abuse embryopathy: longitudinal neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal exposure to toluene in rats, Reprod Toxicol source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Biologic mechanisms of harm include oxidative stress after metabolism by P450 enzymes and direct interference with cell membrane integrity for the many VOCs that are lipophilic.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Volatile Organic Compounds/Solvents
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [82] Barr, 2014, Volatile organic compounds
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Thimerosal contains ethylmercury, considered a less toxic form of mercury compared to methylmercury.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [99] Clarkson, 2003, The toxicology of mercury—current exposures and clinical manifestations, N Engl J Med source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Arsenic is found in contaminated drinking water resulting from arsenical soil, including in some parts of the U.S., with secondary sources including arsenic-treated wood, arsenic-containing pesticides, and some dietary sources”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Metals cross the placenta and the blood–brain barrier, accumulate in developing brains, and interact directly at the cellular level through a variety of mechanisms, including interfering with key cellular receptors and causing reactive oxygen species.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“One possible reason for the lack of observed elevated association in the Seychelles study is that mercury exposure was almost entirely from fish consumption in this population, so that the impacts of brain-enhancing nutrients contained in fish may have counteracted any toxic impact of mercury.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Rests on an assumption: Beneficial nutrients in fish can counteract mercury toxicity enough to explain the null Seychelles result.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Persistent environmental chemicals like mercury often have affinity for fatty tissues (they are lipophilic) and so are not readily broken down. After widespread use and distribution, such chemicals deposit in waterways and concentrate toward the top of the food chain in predatory fish and human milk.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Sociodemographic and neighborhood factors, therefore, are important potential confounders when studying lead (and other metal) exposures.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The same fish that contain methylmercury accumulate other persistent organic pollutants, such as those covered later in this review, and also contain beneficial nutrients (e.g., fatty acids), leading to problems of negative and positive confounding from the mixtures of chemicals present in some fish.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The other studies only pertained to less important routes of metal exposure (e.g., air), and so are unlikely to represent the full impact of these metals on autism risk.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Mercury exposure, especially the most toxic form, methylmercury, occurs primarily from diet, because it bioaccumulates in the environment.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Less important sources of mercury exposure include dental amalgams (during placement and from continual release of trace amounts of mercury vapor for the life of the amalgam) and outside air near coal combustion and some industrial facilities.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the existing studies of autism due to metals from air, occupation, dental amalgams, and diet are suggestive that metal exposure may cause autism but are, for the most part, limited in scope”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“in a representative sample in the U.S., OC pesticides were detected in over 97% of bio-samples, while OP pesticide metabolites were detected in 70%”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [12] US Department of Health and Human Services. Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, Updated Tables. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Sep2013.pdf; 2013 Accessed 16.12.13.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which never contained thimerosal and so is outside the scope of this review”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The public health importance of this controversial issue has diminished given the prophylactic removal of thimerosal from pediatric vaccines, although pregnant women may still receive thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the studies we included met our validity criteria, some minor flaws may have created such an influence.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: The included thimerosal studies' validity criteria are adequate to support the conclusion of no association despite minor flaws.
In the paper
“Currently, the only vaccines containing more than trace amounts of thimerosal are some influenza vaccines, to which both infants and pregnant women may be exposed.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [100] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thimerosal in Vaccines. Table 3. http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228#t1; updated June 20, 2012. Accessed 28.3.14.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Pesticides can pass through the placenta and the blood–brain barrier.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [113] Bradman, 2003, Measurement of pesticides and other toxicants in amniotic fluid as a potential biomarker of prenatal exposure: a validation study, Environ Health Perspect source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Over 600 unique chemical pesticides and 20,000 commercial pesticide products, categorized by function as insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, rodenticide, fumigant, and repellant, are on the market, and over one billion pounds are used in the U.S. each year.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [111] Karr, 2014, Pesticides
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“the healthiest babies may be given vaccines earlier, and may be independently less likely to develop autism, possibly leading to an artificial influence where earlier vaccines are associated with less autism”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metal (Ethylmercury) From Vaccinations
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [15] Hertz-Picciotto, 2011, Environmental risk factors in autism: results from large-scale epidemiologic studies
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“none adjusted for other agricultural exposures, and it is therefore possible that observed associations between pesticides and autism may, in actuality, be reflecting a causal influence of another chemical along for the ride”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Currently used chemicals include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, used as flame-retardant additives to textiles and plastic casings of electronics) and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs, used as non-stick coatings in cookware and outdoor gear).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All of these studies exhibited reliable information on autism diagnosis or characteristics, used suitable controls with limited selection bias, and accounted for important confounders such as social class and maternal age.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Persistent organic pollutants are synthetic, carbon-based chemicals that accumulate in the environment and in human tissues”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Persistent organic pollutants that were banned by the Stockholm Convention in 2001 include PCBs (heat-stable lubricants used throughout industry) and some dioxins (such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, TCDD”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [144] Patterson, 2009, Levels in the U.S. population of those persistent organic pollutants (2003−2004) included in the Stockholm Convention or in other long-range transboundary air pollution agreements, Environ Sci Technol source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“OC pesticides are persistent pollutants and some are detectable in the environment and human tissues decades after they have been banned, such as the OC pesticide DDT.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [128] Xu, 2010, Associations of serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides with breast cancer and prostate cancer in U.S. adults, Environ Health Perspect source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“In one study among a largely Hispanic, agricultural community, the association between pesticides and autism may have been overestimated because of unusual performance of the psychometric test in this population and because the study used an OR, which is best suited for rare diseases, for a common outcome.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [15] Hertz-Picciotto, 2011, Environmental risk factors in autism: results from large-scale epidemiologic studies
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: Autism is common enough that using an odds ratio may overestimate association in one pesticide study.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“this co-pollutant confounding influence is not likely to be large: pesticides are chemicals with demonstrated neurotoxicity and these studies measured pesticides using different methods and across different settings”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Pesticides
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“All of these studies adjusted for important sociodemographic confounders, and all except for one adjusted for maternal age.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [58] Larsson, 2009, Associations between indoor environmental factors and parental-reported autistic spectrum disorders in children 6–8 years of age, Neurotoxicology source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“maternal age, because older moms were living in times prior to chemical bans and incurred more years to accumulate body burdens, and birth order and breast-feeding practices, in part because breast-feeding is one of the most effective methods of excreting lipophilic chemicals”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [157] Hardell, 2010, Time trends of persistent organic pollutants in Sweden during 1993–2007 and relation to age, gender, body mass index, breast-feeding and parity, Sci Total Environ source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“biomarkers of phthalates and BPA have strengths of being objective, quantitative measures, and in one study were collected more than one time in pregnancy”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [136] Braun, 2014, Gestational exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and reciprocal social, repetitive, and stereotypic behaviors in 4- and 5-year-old children: the HOME Study, Environ Health Perspect source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although these chemicals are not persistent, that is, they are readily cleared from the human body in part because they are water soluble, exposure is ubiquitous and continuous, so is important to examine for chronic effects.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Other pathophysiological mechanisms of these organic pollutants include neurotoxicity or immunotoxicity.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [147] Hertz-Picciotto, 2008, Prenatal exposures to persistent and non-persistent organic compounds and effects on immune system development: prenatal exposures and immune development, Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol source
- Not checked yetcites [148] Kajta, 2013, Impact of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on neural development and the onset of neurological disorders, Pharmacol Rep source
- Not checked yetcites [149] Landrigan, 2014, Polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, furans, DDT, polybrominated compounds, polyfluorinated compounds, and other halogenated hydrocarbons
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“dust biomarker levels are especially high in California, where flammability standards had until recently been more strict than in the U.S. as a whole”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [155] Zota, 2008, Elevated house dust and serum concentrations of PBDEs in California: unintended consequences of furniture flammability standards?, Environ Sci Technol source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“PBDEs are structurally similar to thyroid hormone, which is required during discrete periods of neurodevelopment.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [146] Messer, 2010, Mini-review: polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants as potential autism risk factors, Physiol Behav source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Given the difficulty in measuring exposure, especially for phthalates and BPA, which have short half-lives, it is not possible to rule out any of these chemicals from causing neurodevelopmental harm.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Being a male is one of the strongest predictors of being diagnosed with autism, especially higher-functioning autism”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Susceptibilities and Heterogeneity of Response to Xenobiotic Exposures > Greater Susceptibility in Males or Females
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [159] Baron-Cohen, 2010, Empathizing, systemizing, and the extreme male brain theory of autism, Prog Brain Res source
- Not checked yetcites [160] Cheslack-Postava, 2012, Autism spectrum disorders: toward a gendered embodiment model, Soc Sci Med source
- Not checked yetcites [161] Lai, 2013, Biological sex affects the neurobiology of autism, Brain J Neurol source
- Not checked yetcites [162] Schaafsma, 2014, Etiologies underlying sex differences in autism spectrum disorders, Front Neuroendocrinol source
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“if transgenerational impacts are implicated via epigenetic mechanisms, these studies may completely miss the relevant exposures that occurred for parents or grandparents”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Studies to date have focused on the important prenatal period”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Flame Retardants, Non-Stick Chemicals, Phthalates, and Bisphenol A
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“the question about whether environmental exposures/compounds, as a whole, cause autism, is not sufficient to guide the primary prevention of autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Conclusions
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Rests on an assumption: The environment is not a single entity.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Genetic polymorphisms of possible relevance include those encoding proteins involved in the metabolism or biological activation of the xenobiotic, genes allowing improved resiliency to neurodevelopmental damages, or genes that confer some degree of autism risk that, when combined with xenobiotic damage, result in autism.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Susceptibilities and Heterogeneity of Response to Xenobiotic Exposures > Genetic Susceptibilities
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The very strength of the child sex-autism association presents a research challenge because the number of females with autism in any given study will be much smaller than the number of males, limiting the statistical power to assess sex × environment interactions.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Susceptibilities and Heterogeneity of Response to Xenobiotic Exposures > Greater Susceptibility in Males or Females
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“autism is one manifestation of developmental neurological damage, part of the broader set of neurodevelopmental problems including cognitive impairments, attention-deficit disorders, sensory processing disorders, and more.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Susceptibilities and Heterogeneity of Response to Xenobiotic Exposures > Different Responses Across the Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
- Rests on an assumption: Children given autism diagnoses vary widely in symptoms, disability level, and co-occurring conditions.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Different critical windows for different exposures is not unexpected given the various biological activities of environmental chemicals and the many, interwoven events of neurodevelopment, taking place during pregnancy and postnatal life, which, if disrupted, could manifest in autism symptoms.”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Conclusions
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
Community-level exposure estimates are reasonable proxies for individual-level exposure.
“Community-level exposures (e.g., an air toxic pollutant estimated for a census tract) often serve as reasonable proxies of individual-level exposure, although they include some degree of exposure measurement error.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Environmental chemical exposures can be reduced, opening avenues for primary prevention of autism.
“exposure to these factors can be reduced, opening up viable avenues for the primary prevention of autism”
The paper relies on this without support.
Measurement error in environmental exposure measurement is non-differential with respect to autism and therefore attenuates observed associations.
“Despite the inherent error in the measurement of many of these environmental exposures, which is likely to attenuate observed associations”
“measurement error that would be expected to attenuate findings”
The paper relies on this without support.
Exposure measurement error in the reviewed studies is nondifferential and biases observed associations toward the null.
“which would be expected to attenuate observed ORs”
The paper relies on this without support.
Adjustment for socioeconomic status and maternal age is sufficient to make residual confounding an unlikely explanation for the metal-autism associations.
“confounding not highly likely given that all of these studies adjusted for socioeconomic status and maternal age, but possible”
The paper relies on this without support.
A pattern of small odds ratios around the null with confidence intervals spanning the null indicates no causal association for thimerosal.
“results were most consistent with a pattern due to chance, demonstrated by ORs of small magnitude (most between 0.9 and 1.2), above and below the null, and with confidence intervals spanning the null, suggesting that thimerosal does not increase autism risk”
The paper relies on this without support.
The included thimerosal studies' validity criteria are adequate to support the conclusion of no association despite minor flaws.
“Although the studies we included met our validity criteria, some minor flaws may have created such an influence.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Autism is common enough that using an odds ratio may overestimate association in one pesticide study.
“the study used an OR, which is best suited for rare diseases, for a common outcome”
The paper relies on this without support.
Beneficial nutrients in fish can counteract mercury toxicity enough to explain the null Seychelles result.
“the impacts of brain-enhancing nutrients contained in fish may have counteracted any toxic impact of mercury”
The paper relies on this without support.
The comparison group of children with speech and language impairment in one metal study may have a stronger association with lead or manganese, causing inverse findings.
“which could have been caused by a stronger association with the comparison group in this design: children with speech and language impairment”
The paper relies on this without support.
Children given autism diagnoses vary widely in symptoms, disability level, and co-occurring conditions.
“children diagnosed under the autism umbrella exhibit a very wide range of symptoms, level of disability, and co-occurring conditions.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The environment is not a single entity.
“The environment is not one entity”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Direct evidence linking any specific EDC to a clearly defined clinical disorder involving the social brain is sparse, and no single chemical has yet been definitively implicated (18, 21–25).”
From Endocrine Disruption of Vasopressin Systems and Related Behaviors (2017) · cites this paper as [21]
In the citing paper
“There is a growing body of literature documenting the association between airborne pollutants and ASD, with epidemiological studies undertaken during the last decade recently summarized in several reviews [185, 186].”
From The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [185]
In the citing paper
“A review comprising of seven epidemiological studies conducted in 2014 noted that all studies documented an association across all classes of pesticides and ASD risk, with several associations reaching significance.”
From The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [185]
In the citing paper
“These effects were the largest for exposures in weeks 1–7 of pregnancy, and postnatally in weeks 4–12 [185].”
From The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [185]
In the citing paper
“Environmental chemicals that have been implicated as risk factors for ASD include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, bisphenol A (BPA), mercury, and pesticides ( Tables 1–2 ) [ 52–62 ].”
From DNA methylation: a mechanism linking environmental chemical exposures to risk of autism spectrum disorders? (2016) · cites this paper as [59]
In the citing paper
“Our systematic review results were generally in concert with previous expert-based narrative reviews that addressed the association of ASD and environmental chemical exposures more broadly [18, 65–67].”
From A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Multiple Airborne Pollutants and Autism Spectrum Disorder (2016) · cites this paper as [66]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
“Five epidemiological studies of metal exposure from air, occupation, dental amalgams, and diet were included (Table 8).”
§ Environmental Chemical Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Epidemiological Evidence > Evidence Regarding Environmental Chemical Pollutants > Metals From Air, Occupation, Dental Amalgams, and Diet
“Mercury from dental amalgams was also associated with increased autism severity (Fig. 5, dark green).97”
Citations
Cites
1 retracted
Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism diagnosis, NHIS 1997–2002.
Gallagher, C. M., & Goodman, M. S. (2010) · Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A · doi:10.1080/15287394.2010.519317 · Cited by 72 · cited 1×
“6, purple).(102) This result has not been included in prior reviews.”
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“Air pollutants enter the human body via inhalation and by direct translocation from the nose to the brain via the olfactory bulb.(65) Particulate pollutants have mixed chemical properties and are defined by size, such as particulate matter o2.”
Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms and profiles
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2000) · Cited by 2,503
Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals
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Effect of climate change on air quality
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Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors Among Twin Pairs With Autism
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Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Institute of Medicine (US) Immunization Safety Review Committee, 2004
- De Cock, 2012, Does perinatal exposure to endocrine disruptors induce autism spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders? Review, Acta Paediatr, 101, 811, 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2012.02693.x · DOI · Paper page
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–268 of 268
Park, S., & Chung, C. (2023) · Korean journal of women health nursing/Yeoseong geon'gang ganho hag'hoeji/Yeoseong geon-gang ganho hakoeji · doi:10.4069/kjwhn.2023.11.28 · Cited by 5
“Indeed, many diseases and disorders are now considered to be related to prenatal exposure to EDCs, such as premature birth [23], autism [24], allergies [25], and congenital abnormalities [26].”
BackgroundLa-Ane, R., Amqam, H., Susilawaty, A., Natsir, M. F., Yusbud, M., Adhariana, H. K., & Aris, A. Z. (2025) · Toxicology Reports · doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2025.102032 · Cited by 4
“Factors such as family income and maternal education not only determine the likelihood of exposure to environmental contaminants but also influence access to cleaner, regulated consumer products and safer living conditions [1,15,19].”
An Overview on Genetic and Environmental Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder
(2018) · Global Clinical and Translational Research · doi:10.20900/gctr20190003 · Cited by 4
Blossom, S. J., Melnyk, S. B., & Simmen, F. A. (2019) · Environmental Science Processes & Impacts · doi:10.1039/c9em00514e · Cited by 4
Csaba, G. (2020) · Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica · doi:10.1556/030.2020.01178 · Cited by 4
“[39] Kalkbrenner AE, Schmidt R, Penlesky AC.”
Gao, C., Yang, F., Wu, B., Liang, Y., Qin, Y., & Guo, Y. (2023) · Environmental Monitoring and Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10661-023-11570-6 · Cited by 4
“The influence of environmental pollutants on the incidence of ASD has been of widespread concern (Kalkbrenner et al., 2014; Rossignol et al., 2014; Sealey et al., 2016; Tran & Miyake, 2017).”
BackgroundMorel, C., Paoli, J., Emond, C., Debaugnies, F., Hardy, E. M., Creta, M., Montagne, M., Borde, P., Nieuwenhuyse, A. V., Duca, R. C., et al. (2023) · Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.etap.2023.104343 · Cited by 4
Mordaunt, C. E., Park, B. Y., Bakulski, K. M., Feinberg, J. I., Croen, L., Ladd‐Acosta, C., Newschaffer, C. J., Volk, H. E., Ozonoff, S. J., Hertz‐Picciotto, I., et al. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/486498 · Cited by 4
Self-citationMcCanlies, E. C., Gu, J. K., Claudia, C., Sanderson, W. T., Ludeña, Y., & Hertz‐Picciotto, I. (2025) · International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2025.114613 · Cited by 3
Pall, M. L. (2024) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci14050454 · Cited by 3
“The diverse chemicals thought to be important via perinatal exposure in autism/ASD causation have been reviewed [161–163].”
BackgroundAssessing the Impact of Neighborhood Conditions on Neurodevelopmental Disorders during Childhood
Santiago, A. M., Berg, K. A., & Leroux, J. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18179041 · Cited by 3
Reproductive and developmental toxicity of solvents and gases
Vulimiri, S. V., Pratt, M. M., Kulkarni, S., Beedanagari, S. R., & Mahadevan, B. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-89773-0.00018-7 · Cited by 3
Cavalier, H. M., Ghassabian, A., Long, S. E., Afanasyeva, Y., Sumner, S., McRitchie, S., Coble, R., Chen, Y., Kannan, K., Li, Z., et al. (2025) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c05412 · Cited by 2
Valproic Acid Accelerates Neural Outgrowth during Dorsal Root Ganglia Neurogenesis In Vitro
Wiens, D. J., Bergan, H. M., Walter, O. S., McGinley, A., & Ahlrichs, B. (2019) · Annals of Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.18314/abne.v2i1.1607 · Cited by 1
“ASD is known to have a heritable component [3], and environmental agents or conditions in utero such as heavy metal exposure, maternal infection, folic acid supplementation, vitamin D metabolism defects, or epigenetic effects have all been implicated in causing it [4-7].”
BackgroundMarinello, W. P., Gillera, S. E. A., Huang, L., Rollman, J., Reif, D. M., & Patisaul, H. B. (2023) · NeuroToxicology · doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2023.10.012 · Cited by 2
Lockhart, D. (2015) · WIT transactions on ecology and the environment · doi:10.2495/air150161 · Cited by 2
Liquid–liquid phase separation in synaptopathies
Jiang, H., & Wu, H. (2023) · Neuroprotection/Neuroprotection (Chichester, England. Print) · doi:10.1002/nep3.21 · Cited by 2
“A 75 – 77 Environmental factors, such as inappropriate child ‐ rearing, 78 – 80 viral infections, 81,82 and environmental chemicals such as endocrine ‐ disrupting chemicals, 83 play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Bagasra, O., & Bagasra, A. B. (2019) · Advances in human services and public health (AHSPH) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-7635-8.ch003 · Cited by 2
Midya, V., Alcala, C. S., Rechtman, E., Hertz‐Picciotto, I., Gennings, C., Rosa, M. J., & Valvi, D. (2023) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2023.02.02.23285222 · Cited by 2
Reede, D. H. H., Tancredi, D. J., & Schmidt, R. J. (2024) · Research in Autism · doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102393 · Cited by 1
Self-citationWilson, R. J., Panesar, H. K., Dursun, İ., Mendieta, R., Andrew, P. M., Li, X., Lehmler, H., & Lein, P. J. (2026) · Frontiers in Toxicology · doi:10.3389/ftox.2026.1816944 · Cited by 1
“…peer-reviewed literature that examined links between autism and exposures to environmental pollutants have identified polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as potential environmental risk factors for autism (Carter and Blizard, 2016; Cheroni et al., 2020; Kalkbrenner et al., 2014; Pelch et al., 2019).”
Underestimated environmental factors contributing to autism spectrum disorders
Fini, J., Leemans, M., & DEMENEIX, B. A. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818466-0.00004-6 · Cited by 1
Wnukiewicz‐Kozłowska, A., & Drozdowska, U. D. (2021) · Review of European and Comparative Law · doi:10.31743/recl.12264 · Cited by 1
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome in a Patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Case Report
Klek, S., Newgren, J., Burns, P., Kwak, A., Casinelli, E., Tu, T., Pontikes, T. K., & Meresh, E. S. (2023) · OBM Neurobiology · doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304188 · Cited by 1
Patisaul, H. B. (2024) · Masterclass in neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-51112-7_9 · Cited by 1
Immune Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Malkova, N. V., & Hsiao, E. Y. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800109-7.00005-4 · Cited by 2
Perinatal complications, environmental factors and autism spectrum disorders
Mandić-Maravić, V., Pejovic-Milovancevic, M. M., Pekmezovic, T. D., Pljesa-Ercegovac, M. S., Mitković-Vončina, M., & Lečić‐Toševski, D. (2016) · Medicinski podmladak · doi:10.5937/mp67-12844 · Cited by 1
“Evidence for this claim can be found in the fact that neuronal connections and signaling pathways have been proven to change in ASD, and these are the systems which develop in exactly prenatal and perinatal periods of development (10).”
BackgroundInfluentialHan, L., Li, B., Liu, R., Peng, J., Song, Y., Wang, S., Yuan, P., Zeng, P., & Zhang, M. (2018) · Terrestrial environmental sciences · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76469-6_4 · Cited by 1
El-Ansary, A. K., Al-Dbass, A. M., & Qasem, H. (2018) · InTech eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.69431 · Cited by 2
Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective
Townsend, J., Westerfield, M., & Chukoskie, L. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-14895-9_12 · Cited by 1
Shehata, M. A., El-Din, E. M. S., Youssef, M. M., Shady, M. M. A., El-Alameey, I. R., Ashaat, E. A., Gouda, A. S., & Nazim, W. S. (2021) · Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences · doi:10.3889/oamjms.2021.7635 · Cited by 1
“While numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of genetic, environmental, and immunological aspects on the etiology of ASD, there is still much to be done to realize the exact etiology [5], [6], [7].”
BackgroundLai, D.-C., Guo, H., & Tseng, Y.-C. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-634630/v1 · Cited by 1
Chrest, B. (2020) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/ztm64 · Cited by 2
Parental Occupation in Pre and Postnatal among Autism Spectrum Disorder
Paulraj, S. J. V., Salleh, S. N. A. M., & Vetrayan, J. (2016) · Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal · doi:10.21834/e-bpj.v1i3.344
Benesch, H. (2016) · ePublications at Regis University (Regis University)
Felice, C. D., Leoncini, S., Signorini, C., Cortelazzo, A., Marchigiani, E., Ciccoli, L., & Hayek, J. (2017) · Journal of the Siena Academy of Sciences · doi:10.4081/jsas.2016.6954
Rasga, C., Santos, J. X., Lopes, A. L., Marques, A. R., Vilela, J. E. R., Asif, M., Oliveira, G., Bennett, D. H., Walker, C. K., Schmidt, R. J., et al. (2019) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/520593
“…that the increase in ASD risk may be attributed to the accumulation of toxins, such as persistent organic pollutants (PCBs) and EDCs, in the body since it is probable that older parents lived in times prior to chemicals bans and experienced more years of bioaccumulation (Kalkbrenner et al., 2014).”
BackgroundSelf-citationReviews in Environmental Health: How Systematic are they?
Sutton, P., Daniels, N., Lam, J., Archibald, H., Davis, K., Tesoro, H., & Woodruff, T. J. (2018) · ISEE Conference Abstracts · doi:10.1289/isesisee.2018.p02.4070
Estudo dos componentes de vulnerabilidade genética no transtorno do espectro autista
Reis, V. N. D. S. (2019) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.5.2019.tde-23082019-163447
McCanlies, E. C., Gu, J. K., Kashon, M. L., Yücesoy, B., Claudia, C., Sanderson, W. T., Kim, K., Ludeña, Y., & Hertz‐Picciotto, I. (2023) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.115769 · Cited by 2
Advances in the understanding of cellular pathogenesis associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Savory, K., & Syed, Y. A. (2019) · Journal for ReAttach Therapy and Developmental Diversities · doi:10.26407/2019jrtdd.1.21
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Intérêt des régimes sans caséine et sans gluten chez l’enfant autiste
Lecerf, J. (2020) · Pratiques en nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.pranut.2020.06.006
Chromatin Dynamics and Genetic Variation Combine to Regulate Innate Immune Memory.
Kim, J. S., & Ciernia, A. V. (2020) · PubMed
Ibrahim, K. S., Sayed, E. E., & Mahdy-Abdallah, H. (2020) · Archives of Ecotoxicology · doi:10.36547/ae.2020.2.4.79-88
“Exposure to harmful environmental factors can alter the expression of developmental key genes in critical periods of embryo formation and raises the potentiality of genomic imprinting diseases such as autism (Karimi et al., 2017).”
BackgroundDan, L., Zhuoxin, W., Sun, W., Zhiwei, B., & Fuzhi, W. (2020) · doi:10.2196/preprints.17772
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Pooja, B. (2020) · Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development · doi:10.37506/ijphrd.v11i6.9761
Mohammadzadeh, S., Masumeh, A., Rasouli, M. A., Ghaderpour, M., Saleh, E., & Karimi, A. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4142137
Genetics and Epigenetics of ASD
Mojarad, B. A., Qaiser, F., & Yuen, R. K. C. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20792-1_18 · Cited by 2
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Human Cerebral Organoids in Pillar/Perfusion Plates for Modeling Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Acharya, P. (2024) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · doi:10.12794/metadc2332637
Salavoura, A. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80271-3_9
Controlled Pesticide Release From Biodegradable Polymers
Saini, R. K., Patel, S., Bajpai, J., & Bajpai, A. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95486-0.00139-3
Castro-Fuentes, M. N., & Mugruza-Vassallo, C. A. (2025) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-7266880/v1
Hamed, N. F., Alqahtani, A. M., Alshaibani, F., Elsharif, S. M., Alamri, S. A. S., & Serhan, A. I. (2025) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.94607 · Cited by 1
Masri, S., Miller, C. S., Palmer, R. F., & Ashford, N. A. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14691684
Autism Spectrum Condition: An Update on its Understanding and Clinical Perspective
Prasad, S., Kisku, S., & Gupta, R. S. A. S. (2026) · IntechOpen eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.1010055
Autisme et cervelet : le gradient des ions chlorures en question
Roux, S. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/a6f075d7ze2f7z4136z8b39zdeb288b0b7a3
Folates et pathologies du neurodéveloppement : autisme et anomalies de fermeture du tube neural
Renard, É. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/76b8f70bzfbf3z4c5bz9648z18860d401964
Outils d'évaluation d'une intervention d'éducation pour la santé environnementale périnatale
Rouillon, S. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/13b7f02dzefc0z4823zbb48z0a74191ff4be
Ayyan, M., Salameh, H., Alladaboina, S., Ayoub, S., Subai, A., Naimi, H. A., Khan, A. S., Yousef, M., Pal, M., & Châari, A. (2026) · Environmental Health · doi:10.1186/s12940-026-01321-8
“Observational studies cannot establish causality between air pollution and ASD risk [61, 128].”
InfluentialTrisha, A. D., Imran, M. A., Hafsa, J. M., & Mohanto, N. C. (2026) · GeoHealth · doi:10.1029/2026gh001955
“…and/ or only a single metal, and/or limited assessment period or age, and/or focused on the causes of ASD, and/or on the mechanism (Balali‐Mood et al., 2021; Bjørklund et al., 2018; Dickerson et al., 2017; Fujiwara et al., 2016; Gorini et al., 2014; Kalkbrenner et al., 2014; Ratajczak, 2011).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Kalkbrenner, A. E., Schmidt, R. J., & Penlesky, A. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (US)
- University of California Davis Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-11
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 277-318
- ISSN
- 1538-3199 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-5442
- PMC
- PMC4855851
- OpenAlex
- W2064675231
- Semantic Scholar
- 58c904d420dd9b73f6e5e504fa62924c506bc150
- Cited by
- 268
- References
- 240
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 16
- FWCI
- 13.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Autism Speaks (AS9038)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K12HD051958)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, environmental chemical exposure, prenatal exposure, early childhood exposure, tobacco smoke exposure, air pollutants, traffic-related air pollution, volatile organic compounds, solvents, metals, dental amalgam, thimerosal-containing vaccines, pesticides, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, phthalates, bisphenol A, autism prevention, neurodevelopmental damage
- MeSH terms
- Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Environmental Pollutants, Female, Humans, Pesticides, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Risk Factors, Nicotiana, Vaccination, Maternal Exposure, Metals, Heavy
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