Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009:2009:532640.
doi: 10.1155/2009/532640. Epub 2009 Aug 26.

The severity of autism is associated with toxic metal body burden and red blood cell glutathione levels

J B Adams  1 , M Baral, E Geis, J Mitchell, J Ingram, A Hensley, I Zappia, S Newmark, E Gehn, R A Rubin, K Mitchell, J Bradstreet, J M El-Dahr
Affiliations

The severity of autism is associated with toxic metal body burden and red blood cell glutathione levels

J B Adams et al. J Toxicol. 2009.

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship of children's autism symptoms with their toxic metal body burden and red blood cell (RBC) glutathione levels. In children ages 3-8 years, the severity of autism was assessed using four tools: ADOS, PDD-BI, ATEC, and SAS. Toxic metal body burden was assessed by measuring urinary excretion of toxic metals, both before and after oral dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). Multiple positive correlations were found between the severity of autism and the urinary excretion of toxic metals. Variations in the severity of autism measurements could be explained, in part, by regression analyses of urinary excretion of toxic metals before and after DMSA and the level of RBC glutathione (adjusted R(2) of 0.22-0.45, P < .005 in all cases). This study demonstrates a significant positive association between the severity of autism and the relative body burden of toxic metals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Medical Hypotheses. 2001;56(4):462–471. - PubMed
    1. Windham GC, Zhang L, Gunier R, Croen LA, Grether JK. Autism spectrum disorders in relation to distribution of hazardous air pollutants in the San Francisco Bay area. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2006;114(9):1438–1444. - PMC - PubMed
    1. DeSoto MC, Hitlan RT. Blood levels of mercury are related to diagnosis of autism: a reanalysis of an important data set. Journal of Child Neurology. 2007;22(11):1308–1311. - PubMed
    1. Adams JB, Romdalvik J, Ramanujam VMS, Legator MS. Mercury, lead, and zinc in baby teeth of children with autism versus controls. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A. 2007;70(12):1046–1051. - PubMed
    1. Bradstreet J, Geier DA, Kartzinel JJ, Adams JB, Geier MR. A case-control study of mercury burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. 2003;8(3):76–79.

LinkOut - more resources