ECO baby + kids

An interesting study was published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association under the archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The study, Autism Prevalence and Precipitation Rates in California, Oregon, and Washington Counties, and found that autism prevalence rates were positively related to precipitation totals. As the autors explain, this positive relationship could be due to a number of environmental factors including: more time indoors with more exposure to indoor chemicals (such as those used in household cleaning products), less time in the sunshine which results in lower vitamin d levels, and the precipitation itself carrying some unidentified pollutant. While there is much disagreement in the field of autism, the most commonly held viewpoint is that autism is a lot like cancer in that there are genetic predispositions and various environmental triggers that contribute to the disorder. I will be posting some of my favorite studies, both past and present, as autism is what initially opened my eyes to the need to embrace a cleaner, more sustainable life.

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