TY - JOUR
T1 - Blood lead concentrations in jamaican children with and without autism spectrum disorder
AU - Rahbar, Mohammad H.
AU - Samms-Vaughan, Maureen
AU - Dickerson, Aisha S.
AU - Lovel, Katherine A.
AU - Ardjomand-Hessabi, Manouchehr
AU - Bressler, Jan
AU - Shakespeare-Pellington, Sydonnie
AU - Grove, Megan L.
AU - Pearson, Deborah A.
AU - Boerwinkle, Eric
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2015/12/23
Y1 - 2015/12/23
N2 - Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder manifesting by early childhood. Lead is a toxic metal shown to cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Several studies have investigated the possible association between exposure to lead and ASD, but their findings are conflicting. Using data from 100 ASD cases (2–8 years of age) and their age- and sex-matched typically developing controls, we investigated the association between blood lead concentrations (BLC) and ASD in Jamaican children. We administered a questionnaire to assess demographic and socioeconomic information as well as exposure to potential lead sources. We used General Linear Models (GLM) to assess the association of BLC with ASD status as well as with sources of exposure to lead. In univariable GLM, we found a significant difference between geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.25 μg/dL cases vs. 2.73 μg/dL controls, p < 0.05). However, after controlling for potential confounders, there were no significant differences between adjusted geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.55 μg/dL vs. 2.72 μg/dL, p = 0.64). Our results do not support an association between BLC and ASD in Jamaican children. We have identified significant confounders when assessing an association between ASD and BLC.
AB - Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder manifesting by early childhood. Lead is a toxic metal shown to cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Several studies have investigated the possible association between exposure to lead and ASD, but their findings are conflicting. Using data from 100 ASD cases (2–8 years of age) and their age- and sex-matched typically developing controls, we investigated the association between blood lead concentrations (BLC) and ASD in Jamaican children. We administered a questionnaire to assess demographic and socioeconomic information as well as exposure to potential lead sources. We used General Linear Models (GLM) to assess the association of BLC with ASD status as well as with sources of exposure to lead. In univariable GLM, we found a significant difference between geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.25 μg/dL cases vs. 2.73 μg/dL controls, p < 0.05). However, after controlling for potential confounders, there were no significant differences between adjusted geometric mean blood lead concentrations of ASD cases and controls (2.55 μg/dL vs. 2.72 μg/dL, p = 0.64). Our results do not support an association between BLC and ASD in Jamaican children. We have identified significant confounders when assessing an association between ASD and BLC.
KW - Autism spectrum disorder
KW - Blood lead concentrations
KW - Fruits
KW - Jamaica
KW - Seafood
KW - Vegetables
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph120100083
DO - 10.3390/ijerph120100083
M3 - Article
C2 - 25546274
AN - SCOPUS:84919816605
VL - 12
SP - 83
EP - 105
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 1
ER -