Polluted air can increase the risk of autism in children, according to a research conducted by University of Southern California and Children's Hospital Los Angeles, says a report in Science Daily.
Research conducted "This work has broad potential public health implications," said the study's principal investigator, Heather Volk, Ph.D., assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and investigator in the Division of Research on Children, Youth and Families at Keck School-affiliated Children's Hospital Los Angeles, in a Science Daily report. "We've known for a long time that air pollution is bad for our lungs, and especially for children. We're now beginning to understand how air pollution may affect the brain."
The research is on the basis of how far an individual lives from the roadway traffic pollution combined with measures of regional air quality. Volk and team conducted a previous study, which focused on various factors which would have an impact on the brain.
"We took into account how far away people lived from roads, meteorology such as which way the wind was blowing, how busy the road was, and other factors to study traffic-related pollution," she told Science Daily. "We also examined data from air quality monitors, which measure pollution over a larger region that could come from traffic, industry, rail yards, or many other sources."
The recent study by Volk and colleagues from University of Southern California and University of California, Davis, included 279 autism cases and 245 control subjects who participated in the California-based Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study. Researchers used addresses of mothers' living during their early pregnancy and their each trimester after that. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System was used to examine the quality of the air and exposure to NO2, PM2.5, includes fine and small particles and PM10 which has both fine and rough particles.
"From studies conducted in the lab, we know that we can breathe in tiny particles and they can produce inflammation," said Volk in the report from Science Daily. "Particles have varied composition, and there are many chemicals that can bind to them. The components of these particles could be hazardous to the brain."
