Workplace Chemical Exposure

  In The Politics of Autism, I discuss various ideas about what causes the condition.  The literature has identified dozens of potential causes and correlates.

Erin C. McCanlies, Ja Kook Gu, Claudia C. Ma, Wayne T. Sanderson, Yunin J. Ludeña-Rodriguez, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, The effects of parental occupational exposures on autism spectrum disorder severity and skills in cognitive and adaptive domains in children with autism spectrum disorder, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, Volume 268, 2025, 114613, ISSN 1438-4639, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2025.114613.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463925000951)

The statistical analysis showed that ASD severity was most consistently associated with increasing estimates of exposures during the index period (three months prior to pregnancy until birth of the study child) to phenols, ethylene oxide, and pharmaceuticals. These findings suggest that each of these types of occupational exposures may play a role in severe ASD phenotypes. Furthermore, occupational exposures to plastics/polymers were consistently and significantly associated with poorer cognitive scores, deficits in adaptive skills, lower composite measures of both cognitive and adaptive functioning, and increases in several aberrant behaviors. With such robust findings, the evidence presented here indicates broad neurodevelopmental impact from workplace plastics/polymers. Additionally, five different occupational exposures were associated with significantly increased scores for hyperactivity: automobile/mechanic fluids, anesthetic gas, ethylene oxide, pharmaceuticals/medicine, and plastics/polymer chemicals, suggesting that this behavior is sensitive to early life neurotoxic exposures. Ethylene oxide was particularly associated with deficits in adaptive skills.

Here is a long. growing, and probably incomplete list of other correlates, risk factors, and possible causes that have been the subject of serious studies: 

1. Inflammatory bowel disease;
2. Pesticides;
3. Air pollution and proximity to freeways;
4. Maternal thyroid issues;
5. Autoimmune disorders;
6. Induced labor;
7. Preterm birth;
8. Fever;  
9. Birth by cesarean section;
10. Anesthesia during cesarean sections;
11. Maternal and paternal obesity;
12. Maternal diabetes;
13. Maternal and paternal age;
14. Grandparental age;
15. Maternal post-traumatic stress disorder;
16. Maternal anorexia;
17. Smoking during pregnancy;
18. Cannabis use during pregnancy;
19. Antidepressant use during pregnancy;
20. Polycystic ovary syndrome;
21. Infant opioid withdrawal;
22. Zinc deficiency;
23. Sulfate deficiency;
24. Processed foods;
25. Maternal occupational exposure to solvents;
26. Congenital heart disease;
27. Insufficient placental allopregnanolone.
28. Estrogen in the womb;
29. Morning sickness;
30. Paternal family history;
31. Parental preterm birth;
32. Antiseizure meds
33. Location of forebears
34. Lithium
35. Aspartame
36. BPA
37. Brain inflammation
38. Maternal asthma
39. Infertility
40. Ultraprocessed foods
41. Household chemicals
42. Parental psychiatric disorders
43. Fluoride
44. Fatty acids in umbilical cord blood
45. Maternal inflammation during pregnancy