These days it’s safe to say that the general public is familiar with the word Autism. Larry King has interviewed several individuals on the subject, football great Dan Marino’s son is autistic, even autism awareness bumper stickers and t-shirts have increased in visibility. I can also admit that over the years I have become more interested in autism due to family and friends who have children with the disorder. Despite all of this attention, what most people don’t know is that April is Autism Awareness Month. To add to that, there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding just exactly what autism is and how it continues to affect more and more children.

Autism is often defined as a, “a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old.” According to the Environmental Illness Resource, “both genetic and environmental factors are being studied as possible contributors.” While that may shock some people, there are many conferences and orginizations such as Autism One that really believe examining all influences, including environmental causes, is the only way to help children who may be on varying spectrums of the disorder recover to the best of their ability.

So what are these environmental factors that could be causing autism? This topic is certainly no stranger to controversy. Yet several studies I have read show that autistic children have higher levels of heavy metals than normal. One heavy metal is mercury, a metal children are exposed to through vaccinations. Thimerosal is a preservative used in many vaccinations to prevent contamination and is 49.6% mercury by weight. As the Environmental Illness Resource notes, “shockingly in 1999 the American Food and Drug Administration released a report stating that children who received thimerosal containing vaccinations at multiple visits may be exposed to more mercury than is recommended by federal guidelines.” Chemical exposure is also being cited as an environmental cause of Autism. This includes exposure to thimerosal/mercury, contaminated water, pesticides and other toxic agents.

While I could continue to go on and on regarding autism, its causes and controversies, the one point I wanted to make by writing on this particular subject is that my stance isn’t “don’t vaccinate.” Most children can eliminate these toxins from their body. But what happens to those whose bodies can’t break these toxins down? How do you distinguish whether an infant can’t break them down and so should not be exposed? Instead, these children suffer, their behaviors regress, they tantrum and they become autistic. If the pharmaceutical companies stopped putting such a high quantity of these chemicals/toxins in the vaccines to preserve their shelf life, then perhaps autism wouldn’t be on such a rise. California has one of the highest instances of Autism in the United States and I often wonder if that’s due to smog, power lines and other environmental issues.\

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All in all, the more we become aware of how to reduce pollution, to reduce our exposure to toxins and to examine whether or not Thimerosal is really necessary in our vaccines, the greater the cause is for all individuals not just ourselves.

If you would like to learn more about autism, feel free to check out www.autismone.org It will be holding a conference in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend; a list of their agenda and topics can be found on the website.

For more information, please visit Environmental Illness Resource and Autism One.

Tags: Autism, Environment, Green LA, Green The Vaccine, Toxins