Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study in Israel

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that perinatal air pollutant exposures are associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but evidence for traffic pollutants outside the United States is inconclusive. We assessed the association between nitrogen dioxide, a traffic pollution tracer, and risk of ASD. We conducted a nested case-control study among the entire population of children born during 2005-2009 in the central coastal area of Israel. Cases were identified through the National Insurance Institute of Israel (n = 2,098). Controls were a 20% random sample of the remaining children (n = 54,191). Exposure was based on an optimized dispersion model. We estimated adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals using logistic regression and a distributed-lag model. In models mutually adjusted for the 2 periods, the odds ratio per 5.85-parts per billion (ppb) increment of nitrogen dioxide exposure during pregnancy (median, 16.8 ppb; range, 7.5-31.2 ppb) was 0.77 (95% confidence interval: 0.59, 1.00), and the odds ratio for exposure during the 9 months after birth was 1.40 (95% confidence interval: 1.09, 1.80). A distributed-lag model revealed reduced risk around week 13 of pregnancy and elevated risk around week 26 after birth. These findings suggest that postnatal exposure to nitrogen dioxide in Israel is associated with increased odds of ASD, and prenatal exposure with lower odds. The latter may relate to selection effects.

The risk of overweight and obesity in children with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The association between ASD and overweight/obesity is thought to be affected by multiple etiological factors that may have contributed to the severe heterogeneity we observed even after controlling for the methodological variability. These potential etiological factors include genetic variants (eg, 16p11.2 deletion and microdeletion 11p14.1); prenatal exposure to certain infections, medications, toxins, maternal diabetes, and maternal obesity; intra‐uterine growth retardation; and prematurity . Furthermore, limitations associated with ASD (eg, food selectivity and physical limitations) and management of ASD per se (eg, atypical antipsychotics) could be mediating or moderating the association.…”

Birth weight and autism spectrum disorder: A population‐based nested case–control study

“…We defined children as having ASD, based on NII records that include approved allowance for ASD. Additional details about the NII case ascertainment and its validity can be found in previous publications [Raz et al, 2015[Raz et al, , 2018Segev, Weisskopf, Levine, Pinto, & Raz, 2019].…”

Effects of early life exposure to traffic-related air pollution on brain development in juvenile Sprague-Dawley rats

“…There is now credible evidence that environmental factors influence individual risk for NDDs 4,5 . Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and/or proximity to roadways during development represent environmental factors that have been associated with increased NDD risk [6][7][8][9][10] . TRAP has also been linked to NDD-relevant symptoms, such as cognitive impairment 11,12 , psychomotor deficits 13,14 , and hyperactivity 15 .…”