Mothering Magazine- Mercury Exposures & Autism

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Misty L. Trepke

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Check out Mothering Magazine News Bulletins December 2004

 

Mothering Magazine News Bulletins December 2004

http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/december2004.html#me

rcury

 

New Evidence Suggests Link Between Mercury Exposures And Autism

 

Scientists Identify Trait in Autistic Children That Makes Them More

Susceptible To Harm From Toxic Metals

 

Washington, D.C., Dec. 13 -- A year-long review by Environmental

Working Group (EWG) finds that a near-universal trait in autistic

children suggests a possible link between autism and children's

exposure to mercury. EWG's review corresponds with the publication

of a new study by Dr. Jill James of the University of Arkansas for

Medical Sciences. James served for fourteen years as a senior

research scientist with the Food and Drug Administration and is

currently Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for

Medical Sciences.

 

In a paper published this week in the American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition, James and her colleagues identified a signature

metabolic profile in autistic children that strongly suggests that

these children are more susceptible to the harmful effects of

mercury and other toxic chemicals. The EWG study finds that

autistic children have a common weakened ability to protect

themselves from the effects of small amounts of toxic metals in

their bodies. This trait appears as a severe deficit of active

glutathione in autistic children when compared to healthy children.

Glutathione is a potent antioxidant that is the body's most

important tool for detoxifying and excreting toxic metals.

 

While a review published earlier this year by the National Academy

of Sciences Institute of Medicine concluded that available science

showed no mercury-autism link, it left open the possibility that

vaccines preserved with mercury might trigger autism in a small

subset of susceptible children. The new study by James and her

colleagues examines precisely the issue of susceptibility in a small

subpopulation.

 

The findings raise serious concerns about autistic children's

overall exposure to environmental contaminants. Mercury is of

particular significance because of its proven toxicity to the

developing brain and nervous system, and its documented high

exposures from a variety of sources such as canned tuna,

dental fillings and vaccines preserved with mercury-based

thimerosal.

 

This study significantly strengthens the possibility that mercury is

linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. It also

points to a subgroup within the population that may be vulnerable

to a number of environmental contaminants.

 

" The autism epidemic is alerting us to the importance of individual

susceptibility to environmental pollutants, " said Richard Wiles,

senior vice president of EWG. " Environmental safeguards that protect

a theoretical 'average' person still leave thousands at risk.

Increased understanding of susceptibility will provide the basis

for stronger health policies that truly protect the most

vulnerable. "

http://www.ewg.org