Autism risk could rise with air pollution, new study suggests

Hayley and Matthew Leach tell ‘Fox News Live’ what they want people to know about World Autism Awareness Day. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders could be triggered by air pollution, including the type emitted in car exhaust, a new study suggested — though it had some limitations. The review, led by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, analyzed multiple studies related to autism and cellular activity.

The findings were published in the journal Brain Medicine. The researchers focused on four specific types of particles that make up air pollution : fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3). MELANIA TRUMP SAYS BARRON AUTISM RUMORS CAUSED ‘IRREPARABLE DAMAGE’ They also investigated four different ways in which these particles could impact the fetus.

Those four ways were neuroinflammation, oxidative/nitrosative stress (an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants that causes cell damage), epigenetic modifications (chemical changes to DNA) and disruptions to certain neurotransmitters, according to the study. Lead study author Haitham Amal, PhD (center) is an associate professor at The School of Pharmacy at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is pictured with his research team.

(Igor Fabrov) "Increasing air pollution may significantly raise the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders , particularly ASD, due to gene-environment interactions," lead study author Haitham Amal, PhD, an associate profe.