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Early Life Air Pollution Exposure and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from the Study to Explore Early Development
Citation:
McGuinn, L., G. Windham, A. Kalkbrenner, C. Bradley, Q. Di, L. Croen, D. Fallin, K. Hoffman, C. Ladd-Acosta, J. Schwartz, A. Rappold, D. Richardson, L. Neas, M. Gammon, L. Schieve, AND J. Daniels. Early Life Air Pollution Exposure and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from the Study to Explore Early Development. International Society for Autism Research, Montreal, Quebec, CANADA, May 01 - 04, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
This work make a modest contribution to the growing body of scientific knowledge linking early life exposure to air pollutants with the subsequent onset of autism spectrum disorder.
Description:
Background: Epidemiologic studies have reported associations between prenatal and early postnatal air pollution exposure and autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, findings differ by pollutant and developmental window. Objectives: We examined associations between early life exposure to PM2.5 and ozone in association with ASD across multiple U.S. regions. Methods: Our study participants included 674 children with confirmed ASD and 855 population controls from the Study to Explore Early Development, a multi-site case-control study of children born from 2003 to 2006 in the United States. We used a satellite-based model to assign air pollutant exposure averages during several critical periods of neurodevelopment: three months before pregnancy; each trimester of pregnancy; the entire pregnancy; and the first year of life. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for study site, maternal age, maternal education, maternal race/ethnicity, maternal smoking, and month and year of birth. Results: The air pollution-ASD associations appeared to vary by exposure time period. Ozone exposure during the third trimester was associated with ASD, with an OR of 1.22 (95% CI:1.05, 1.42) per 6.6 ppb increase in ozone. We additionally observed a positive association with PM2.5 exposure during the first year of life [OR = 1.26 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.57) per 1.6 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5]. Conclusions: Our study corroborates previous findings of a positive association between early life air pollution exposure and ASD, and identifies a potential critical window of exposure during the late prenatal and early postnatal periods. This abstract does not necessarily reflect U.S. EPA policy.