Similarities Between Lead Poisoning and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Over a 20 year period between 2000 and 2020 the number of 8 year old children estimated to have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) increased more than four-fold. The CDC Autism and Development Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network states that in 2020, 1 in 36 children were diagnosed with the disorder compared to 2000 when the prevalence was 1 in 150. Per the World Health Organization (WHO), globally "About 1 in 100 children has autism."
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
WHO describes ASD as follows:
"Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a diverse group of conditions. They are characterized by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication. Other characteristics are atypical patterns of activities and behaviours, such as difficulty with transition from one activity to another, a focus on details and unusual reactions to sensations...People with autism often have co-occurring conditions, including epilepsy, depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as challenging behaviours such as difficulty sleeping and self-injury. The level of intellectual functioning among autistic people varies widely, extending from profound impairment to superior levels."
How is Lead Poisoning Related to ASD?
A 2019 article published in Clinical Pediatrics, Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Lead Poisoning: Diagnostic Challenges and Management Complexities, explored the connection between lead poisoning and ASD. "Symptoms of ASD share some similar characteristics to the symptoms of lead neurotoxicity noted above. For example, DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) criteria for ASD, as detailed by the American Psychiatric Association, includes persistent deficits in social-emotional reciprocity and nonverbal communicative behaviors. Significant language delay and coexisting intellectual disability are notable in many children with ASD. In addition to neurologic and behavioral symptoms, both childhood lead poisoning and ASD are often associated with poor appetite, restricted food choices, and gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation or abdominal discomfort."
The report pointed out that children with ASD often have elevated blood lead levels. "Published reviews on the management of ASD often advise health care providers to monitor children with ASD and pica behaviors for elevated BLL."
The Effect of Lead Exposure on Autism Development published in the International Journal on Molecular Sciences also explores the link between autism and lead. Per the abstract, "Previous studies have highlighted exposure to lead (Pb) may play a role in ASD. In addition, lead has been shown to be one of the most prevalent metal exposures associated with neurological deficits...This review examines the relationship between autistic comorbid symptoms—such as deterioration in intelligence scores, memory, language ability, and social interaction—and lead exposure...The goal of this review is to help illustrate the connections between lead’s mechanistic interference and the possible furthering of the comorbidities of ASD. Considerations of the current data and trends suggest a potential strong role for lead in ASD."
Flint Water Crisis Law Firm on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Lead Poisoning
Levy Konigsberg LLP, a law firm that played a leading role in negotiating a $626 million settlement on behalf of people adversely impacted by the Flint water crisis, has also spoken about the similarities between lead poisoning and autism symptoms.
ASD is NOT a medical condition. ASD is a diagnosis made upon the presence of a minimum number of symptoms which have reached a certain level of severity. Since lead poisoning causes many symptoms included in the list of symptoms under the ASD heading, lead poisoning is a cause of ASD by definition. For example lead poisoning causes cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, behavioral delays, neurological immaturity, and attention deficits.
The key difference between children with lead poisoning who have symptoms similar to ASD and true ASD children is whether or not the child has the ability to have relationships with others. For example experts in the field will consider whether the child is able to communicate with a parent or with a sibling, or with a classmate or with a teacher, or with other adults. If your child has a history of lead poisoning and is able to have a relationship with others, then you should consider consulting with the lead poisoning lawyers at LK.
Airports Responsible for 70% of Airborne Lead Pollution Nationwide
Thankfully, the water source responsible for lead poisoning and exposure in Flint is no longer in use. The same cannot be said for the U.S. fleet of piston-engine aircraft which are responsible for 70% of airborne lead in the U.S., 470 tons every single year. Some of this lead is contributing to ASD symptoms in our country's children.
A lead study conducted in 2021 at the Reid-Hillview (RHV) general aviation airport in California found that children living in proximity to this airport had blood lead levels on par with those detected in children during the Flint Water Crisis.
The study also stated that, "Several studies have linked aviation gasoline use to elevated atmospheric lead levels in the vicinity of airports. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that four million persons reside, and about six hundred K-12th grade schools are located, within 500 meters of PEA [Piston-Engine Aircraft] servicing airports (EPA, 2020b). Zahran et al. (2017a) estimate that sixteen million persons – and about three million children – live within a kilometer of such airport facilities. The disposition of aviation gasoline around such airports may be a meaningful source of child lead exposure. To date, two studies have explicitly statistically linked aviation gasoline usage to blood lead levels of children residing in the vicinity of general aviation airports, showing the child BLLs increase in proximity to general aviation airports and increase dose-responsively with the volume of piston-engine aircraft traffic at general aviation airports."
In the words of Dr. Sammy Zahran, a leading researcher on the study, "The Flint water crisis from start to finish unfolded in less than a year and a half. By contrast at Reid-Hillview, the release of lead into the lived environment is a continuous, non-stop, daily unabated flow of an undeniably harmful toxicant."
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