Do Environmental Toxins Play a Role in Autism?
Environmental toxins that can affect children are commonplace in our world today. Most parents are aware of the dangers of lead (commonly found in older paint and in some household window blinds), but heavy metals frequently found in fish and other toxins released from the burning of coal are also prevalent. Mercury exposure’s dangers are memory impairment, attention and language ability damage, and interference with visual spatial and fine motor skills. According to Maureen Swanson, MPA, the director of the Healthy Children Project at the Learning Disabilities Association of America, “Researchers are finding harmful effects at lower and lower levels of exposure. They’re now telling us that they don’t know if there’s a level of mercury that’s safe.” Evidence suggests a clear connection between toxins and children’s school performance. Lead poisoning, for instance, lowers IQ and shortens attention spans. While it is unknown exactly what the impact of many toxins may have on children’s d
