The exposure of pregnant women to pesticides would increase the risk of autism in children according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It would be more dangerous during the second and third trimester of pregnancy.
Autism can be explained genetically but not only. Indeed, environmental factors such as exposure to pesticides of mothers during pregnancy would also be responsible for this disease.
Scientists from the Mind Institute at the University of California have examined the links between proximity to pesticides and the risk of autism or developmental delay. They compared the use of these chemicals in the homes of 1,000 participants in a California medical study on autism, the Northern California-based Childhood Risk of Autism from Genetics and the Environment (the CHARGE study).
About a third of study participants lived within 1.25 to 1.75 kilometers of where pesticides were used.
Results reveal that a pregnant woman exposed to pesticides has a 66% higher risk of having a child autistic.
“We found that several types of pesticides were more commonly used near homes where children developed autism syndrome or had developmental delays,” explains Irva Hertz-Picciotto, vice president of the science department and of public health at the university and co-author of the study.
“Although we have yet to assess whether certain subgroups are more sensitive to exposures of pesticides than others, the message is very clear: pregnant women should be careful to avoid contact with agricultural chemicals,” concludes Janie C. Shelton, co-author of the study.
The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) estimates that 100,000 young people under the age of 20 suffer from pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) in France and that infantile autism affects approximately 30,000 of them. between them.