In a recent study presented last week at the International Meeting for Autism Research, mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder were twice as likely to have reported using pet shampoos containing a class of insecticide called pyrethrins as those of healthy children. The risk was greatest if the pet shampoos were used during the second trimester of the pregnancy.
Another study suggests that exposure to organophosphate insecticides doubles the risk of developmental disorders, including autism. Organophosphates have also been previously linked to Gulf War Syndrome.
The author of the study, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, cautions that pyrethrins were not likely to be the only cause of autism, which is generally recognized as being caused by both genetic and environmental factors.
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