Autism and Traffic Pollution Connection (Premium)
In the largest study of its kind, UCLA researchers compared levels of air pollutants, mostly related to vehicle traffic, during pregnancy of 7,603 children with autism and 75,635 children without autism, born from 1995 to 2006 in Los Angeles.
Babies at the 75th percentile of exposure to toxins had 8 percent to 10 percent higher risk of autism than babies at the bottom 25th percentile, the study said. Ozone and fine particulates had the strongest association with autism.
