Mercury Pollution, Autism Link Found - U.S.

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Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:05:12 +0100

 

" Sepp Hasslberger " <sepp

Fwd: Mercury Pollution, Autism Link Found - U.S.

 

 

 

<http://www.reuters.com/home.jhtml>

 

Mercury Pollution, Autism Link Found - U.S. Study

Wed Mar 16, 2005 08:02 PM ET

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews & storyID=7926129

 

 

By Jim Forsyth

 

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Mercury released primarily from

coal-fired power plants may be contributing to an increase in the

number of cases of autism, a Texas researcher said on Wednesday.

 

A study to be published on Thursday in the journal " Health and Place "

found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication

and social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as

mercury emissions rose, said Claudia Miller, a family and community

medicine professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center

in San Antonio.

 

" The main finding is that for every thousand pounds of

environmentally released mercury, we saw a 17 percent increase in

autism rates, " she said in an interview.

 

About 48 tons of mercury are released into the air annually in the

United States from hundreds of coal-burning plants.

 

The study looked at Texas county-by-county levels of mercury

emissions recorded by the government and compared them to the rates

of autism and special education services in 1,200 Texas school

districts, Miller said.

 

" The study shows that there may be a very important connection

between environmental exposure to mercury and the development of

autism, " she said in an interview.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has said it does not know how

many cases of autism there are in the country or whether the number

has increased, but that the issue is under study.

 

Some experts estimate there are 1.5 million people in the United

States with autism, most of them children, and say the number of

cases has risen rapidly in recent years.

 

" Autism has increased dramatically over the last decade or so and the

reasons for that have really stumped the medical community, " Miller

said.

 

" Now we think that due to the rising exposures in pollutants like

mercury, they may be at the root of some of these cases, " she said.

 

The Bush administration this week ordered power plants to cut mercury

pollution by 50 percent within 15 years, but environmentalists said

the action fell short of what was needed. They have called for a 90

percent cut in mercury emissions.

 

" This research has implications for toxic substance regulation and

prevention policies, " said Raymond Palmer, an autism expert at the

San Antonio school who helped in the study.

 

" Policies regarding toxic release of mercury and the incidence of

developmental disorders should be investigated, " he said.

 

 

 

--

 

 

The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition.

 

Sepp Hasslberger

 

 

My page on physics, new energy, economy: http://www.hasslberger.com/

 

Critical perspective on Health: http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/