AUTISM & THE ENVIRONMENT
BUT DOES IT MAKE SENSE THAT VACCINE-BASED TOXICITY
WOULD NOT CAUSE AUTISM WHILE AIR POLLUTION WOULD?
It’s a fair question; how can the metallic toxicity found in virtually all VACCINES (ALUMINUM & MERCURY) — FLU VACCINES INCLUDED — not be related to AUTISM, while the metallic toxicity found in traffic-related or industrial air pollution, even though identical in numerous ways, is? I asked a similar question one year ago after experts declared pollution to be the world’s number one cause of death (HERE). We’ll tackle it in a bit more depth today.
Just two short weeks ago, after looking at 132,256 Vancouver births and following them to age five, JAMA Pediatrics (Association of Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution With Autism Spectrum Disorder) concluded, “In a population-based birth cohort, we detected an association between exposure to nitric oxide and autism spectrum disorders.” The fall issue of the journal Environmental Epidemiology concluded similarly. Should we be surprised? After looking at the body of work on this subject, how could you be, especially with ASD (autism spectrum disorders) being linked to other forms of pollution, namely pesticides / herbicides (HERE)? For those who are interested, here are some CHERRY-PICKED tidbits from related research that have been published over the course of the past half decade.
- “Exposure to traffic-related air pollution, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter 2.5, and particulate matter 10 during pregnancy and during the first year of life was associated with autism.” From a 2013 issue of JAMA Psychiatry (Traffic-Related Air Pollution, Particulate Matter, and Autism)
- “Among the cohort of children born in Los Angeles County, California 1995–2006, those whose mothers resided during pregnancy in a 5km buffer around air-toxics monitoring stations… Risks for autism in children may increase following in utero exposure to ambient air toxics from urban traffic and industry emissions.” From the November 2014 issue of Epidemiology (In Utero Exposure to Toxic Air Pollutants and Risk of Childhood Autism)
- “Our data indicate that both prenatal and postnatal exposures to PM2.5 (tiny particles in the air that reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated) are associated with increased risk of ASD.” From the July 2015 issue of Environmental Research (Fine Particulate Matter and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder)
- “Our meta-analysis support the hypothesis that exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with an increased risk of autism.” From the November 2016 issue of Environmental Research (Childhood Autism Spectrum Disorders and Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide, and Particulate Matter Air Pollution: A Review and Meta-Analysis)
- “Given the general consistency of findings across studies and the exposure-window-specific associations recently reported, the overall evidence for a causal association between air pollution and ASD is increasingly compelling.” From the December 2016 issue of Current Environmental Health Reports (Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Causal or Confounded?)
- “Epidemiologic investigations focused on nongenetic factors have indicated that prenatal exposure to air pollution… are potential risk factors, and suggested the need for further exploration of certain prenatal nutrients, metabolic conditions, and exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.” From the March 2017 issue of Annual Reviews (The Changing Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders)
- “Accumulating evidence from both human and animal studies show that brain is a target of air pollution. Multiple epidemiological studies have now linked components of air pollution to diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a linkage with plausibility based on the shared mechanisms of inflammation. Additional plausibility appears to be provided by findings from our studies in mice of exposures from postnatal day 4-7 and 10-13 (human 3rd trimester equivalent), to concentrated ambient ultrafine (UFP) particles, considered the most reactive component of air pollution, at levels consistent with high traffic areas of major U.S. cities and thus highly relevant to human exposures. These exposures, occurring during a period of marked neuro- and gliogenesis, unexpectedly produced a pattern of developmental neurotoxicity notably similar to multiple hypothesized mechanistic underpinnings of ASD, including its greater impact in males. UFP exposures induced inflammation/microglial activation, reductions in size of the corpus callosum (CC) and associated hypomyelination, aberrant white matter development and/or structural integrity with ventriculomegaly (VM), elevated glutamate and excitatory/inhibitory imbalance, increased amygdala astrocytic activation, and repetitive and impulsive behaviors. Collectively, these findings suggest the human 3rd trimester equivalent as a period of potential vulnerability to neurodevelopmental toxicity to UFP, particularly in males, and point to the possibility that UFP air pollution exposure during periods of rapid neuro- and gliogenesis may be a risk factor not only for ASD, but also for other neurodevelopmental disorders that share features with ASD, such as schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, and periventricular leukomalacia.” It’s long and a bit technical but it’s the word-for-word abstract of a study (Developmental Neurotoxicity of Inhaled Ambient Ultrafine Particle Air Pollution: Parallels with Neuropathological and Behavioral Features of Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders) from the March 2017 issue of Neurotoxicology
- “Accumulating evidence suggests that perinatal air pollutant exposures are associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Our findings suggest that postnatal exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Israel is associated with increased odds of ASD….” From the August 2017 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology (Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study in Israel)
- “Preliminary findings suggest that prenatal exposure to air pollution may be associated with increased autism spectrum disorder risk.” From the May 2018 issue of the journal of the International Society for Autism Research (Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure and Autism: Preliminary Findings from Two Prospective High-Familial Risk Birth Cohorts)
- “Epidemiological studies have reported associations of air pollution exposures with various neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit and schizophrenia, all of which are male-biased in prevalence. Since these neurodevelopmental disorders also include altered social behavior and communication, the current study examined the ability of developmental ultrafine particle exposure (UFP) to reproduce these social behavior deficits and to determine whether any observed alterations reflected changes in steroid hormone concentrations. Collectively, these studies confirm another feature of male-biased neurodevelopmental disorders following developmental exposures to even very low levels of UFP air pollution that could be related to alterations in sex steroid programming of brain function.” From the September 2018 issue of Neurotoxicology (Developmental Exposures to Ultrafine Particle Air Pollution Reduces Early Testosterone Levels and Adult Male Social Novelty Preference: Risk for Children’s Sex-Biased Neurobehavioral Disorders)
- “Among those potential pollutant-related diseases listed in the Lancet report are a number of neurocognitive diseases, including autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and adult neurodegenerative disease. A number of investigators have reported that ambient air NO2, O3, particulate matter (PM) and traffic-related air particulates (TRAPs) are linked to an increased risk of autism. The periods of exposure to ambient air pollutants associated with autism were during pregnancy and in the 1st year of life. PM, TRAPs, and NO2 appear to have the strongest effect on autism development…. Overall, PM2.5 seemed to be the most important pollutant associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and perinatal exposure appears to be the most significant exposure period.” From Dr. David Peden’s article (he is a professor, pediatrician, research director, and Dean of Translational Research at UNC Chapel Hill, NC) in the October issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal (The Unexpected Health Effects of Air Pollution)
- “Exposures to PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 during the first three years of life were associated with the increased risk of ASD and there appeared to be stronger effects of ambient PM pollution on ASD in the second and the third years after birth.” From the October issue of Environment International (Early Life Exposure to Particulate Matter Air Pollution (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) and Autism in Shanghai, China)
- “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and stereotypic behaviors. Many studies support a significant relationship between many different environmental factors in ASD etiology. These factors include increased daily exposure to various toxic metal-based environmental pollutants, which represent a cause for concern in public health. This article reviews the most relevant toxic metals, commonly found, environmental pollutants, i.e., lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), aluminum (Al), and the metalloid arsenic (As). Additionally, it discusses how pollutants can be a possible pathogenetic cause of ASD through various mechanisms including neuroinflammation in different regions of the brain, fundamentally occurring through elevation of the proinflammatory profile of cytokines and aberrant expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB).” From a team of nine Russian and European researchers and published in the October 2018 issue of Environmental Research (Toxic Metal(loid)-Based Pollutants and their Possible Role in Autism Spectrum Disorder)
Honestly, I could have given you dozens of others, but the point is simple; how can there be so much evidence that metallic particulate air pollution is ONE OF SEVERAL PROVEN CAUSES OF AUTISM, yet when the same toxic metals — metals found almost universally in vaccines — are studied, experts always conclude that there is no relationship? This despite jammed message boards, hundreds of websites, and an almost innumerable number of personal testimonies attesting to the opposite. Unfortunately, simply questioning this paradox will earn you the label antivaxxer, even though VACCINE DAMAGE DENIAL is arguably a more common phenomenon. Allow me to make a few observations.
First, when you look at the last quote above, you’ll notice that it has a short list of the most common, highly toxic, metallic pollutants, which includes lead (which everyone recognizes as a poison), mercury (which has been called the most toxic non-radioactive metal on earth and is commonly found in vaccines in the form of a compound called thimerosal) and aluminum (the metal used as an ADJUVANT in vaccines to purposefully create inflammation / neuro-inflammation because bacteria and viruses alone don’t create enough antibodies to be considered effective). For instance, plug in the term “aluminum particulate air pollution” and you’ll find enough material to keep you reading for months. Now do a similar search with the terms aluminum vaccine. Just remember that the rest of the world refers to aluminum as aluminium, spelled with two i’s instead of just one.
Secondly, I think the studies showing that metallic particulate pollution is adversely affecting prenatal / infantile TESTOSTERONE levels are spot on, which is the most logical reason that autism is a male-dominated condition. Throw in the whole ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTOR factor and you can start to see the train coming off the rails.
The December 2017 issue of Environmental Health Reports (Potential Sex Differences Relative to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Metals) concluded that, “Sex differences in ASD diagnosis and mutagenic effects of toxic exposures indicate that sex differences may play a major part in the causal relationship of any potential associations seen…. We also found several studies investigating associations between ASD and metals exposures, including 11 on aluminum, 6 on antimony, 15 on arsenic, 5 on beryllium, 17 on cadmium, 11 on chromium, 25 on lead, 14 on manganese, and 13 on nickel with markers of exposure in hair, urine, blood, teeth, fingernails, and air pollution. Based on our examination of existing literature, the current evidence warrants a considerable need for evaluations of sex differences in future studies assessing the association between metals exposures and ASD.” And while many would argue against it in knee-jerk fashion, I have to wonder if this issue could be playing a role in the Western world’s exploding gender dysphoria?
Thirdly, when you see titles such as this one (Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence and Associations with Air Concentrations of Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic), authored by thirteen researchers from eight universities across the United States, including Johns Hopkins, it becomes increasingly difficult to argue against. Without ever addressing aluminum, the July 2016 issue of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment concluded……
Lead, mercury, and arsenic are neurotoxicants with known effects on neurodevelopment. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder apparent by early childhood. Using data on 4486 children with ASD residing in 2489 census tracts in five sites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, we used multi-level negative binomial models to investigate if ambient lead, mercury, and arsenic concentrations, as measured by the US Environmental Protection Agency National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (EPA-NATA), were associated with ASD prevalence. After adjusting for confounding factors, tracts with air concentrations of lead in the highest quartile had significantly higher ASD prevalence than tracts with lead concentrations in the lowest quartile. In addition, tracts with mercury concentrations above the 75th percentile and arsenic concentrations below the 75th percentile had a significantly higher ASD prevalence. Our results demonstrate that exposure to multiple metals may have synergistic effects on ASD prevalence.
And lastly, what about the whole INFLAMMATION / MICROGLIA connection? The January issue of Experimental Neurology (Beyond Infection: Maternal Immune Activation by Environmental Factors, Microglial Development, and Relevance for Autism Spectrum Disorders), which was a collaboration between scientists from Duke, Harvard, and Cal-Irvine helped shed some light. Here is the cherry-picked abstract….
“Immune molecules such as cytokines and chemokines [inflammation] and the cells that produce them within the brain, notably microglia, are critical for normal brain development. This recognition has in recent years led to the working hypothesis that inflammatory events during pregnancy, e.g. in response to infection, may disrupt the normal expression of immune molecules during critical stages of neural development and thereby contribute to the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Subsequent studies by many labs – in humans and in non-human animal models – have supported the hypothesis that ongoing disrupted immune molecule expression and/or neuroinflammation contributes to at least a significant subset of ASD. The heterogeneous clinical and biological phenotypes observed in ASD strongly suggest that in genetically susceptible individuals, environmental risk factors combine or synergize to create a tipping or threshold point for dysfunction. Importantly, animal studies showing a link between maternal immune activation (MIA) and ASD-like outcomes in offspring involve different species and diverse environmental factors associated with ASD in humans, beyond infection, including toxin exposures, maternal stress, and maternal obesity, all of which impact inflammatory or immune pathways.”
This means that if your immune system, whether in the brain or second brain —- the Gut (remember that 80% of the immune system is FOUND IN THE GUT) — becomes “activated” and starts cranking out the chemical messengers we collectively refer to as inflammation; we cannot be surprised that IF MOM IS PREGNANT, bad things are much more likely to happen to junior, whether he’s still in the womb or out.
What are the factors these authors specifically list as far as immune system activation is concerned? How about INFECTIONS (or HERE)? What about OBESITY, which is itself considered inflammatory? We’ve already dealt with environmental issues such as pollution (yes, CIGARETTES count), but what about MATERNAL STRESS, which was also mentioned? However, in relationship to today’s post, where the rubber meets the road is exposure to toxins. Again, my point is simple. Isn’t it downright suspicious that scores of studies have proved that EPIGENETICALLY SUSCEPTIBLE infants, whether born or unborn, are getting metal-induced autism via pollution, but not via vaccines —- even though we are talking about the very same metals in vaccines, namely aluminium and mercury? I would argue that this is more proof of still another coverup in the long line of coverups we see every day in MONEY-BASED MEDICINE.
When it comes to autism, are metals in polluted air a bigger deal than metals in vaccines; especially if like myself and a huge portion of our population, you live in RURAL AREAS that have virtually zero particulate air pollution? It’s a question you’ll have to answer, not only for your own health, but for the health of your family. In the spirit of the holidays, allow me to give you a completely free gift —- my post on what it takes to start the process of diminishing systemic inflammation (HERE it is). And if you thought today’s article was worthwhile, be sure and show us some love on FACEBOOK, as liking, sharing, or following is an excellent way to reach those you care about mos