Prenatal exposure to pesticide residues in the diet in association with child autism-related traits: Results from the EARLI study.
Prenatal fruit and vegetable intake—not pesticide residues—was tied to slightly lower autism traits at age three.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The EARLI team tracked moms who already had one child with autism.
They scored how much pesticide residue the moms ate while pregnant.
Later they rated the next baby’s autism traits at age three.
What they found
Pesticide residues on food showed no link to later traits.
Kids whose moms ate more fruits and veggies had slightly fewer traits.
The benefit came from the food itself, not the chemicals on it.
How this fits with other research
Esteban-Figuerola et al. (2019) pooled many studies and saw autistic kids eat more produce, not less.
Tsujiguchi et al. (2023) followed Japanese children and found low calcium, iron, and B12 predicted more traits.
Fido et al. (2005) found more lead and mercury in hair of autistic kids, but that study looked at already-diagnosed children, not prenatal exposure.
Cheslack-Postava et al. (2021) used blood cotinine and also saw no autism link, matching the null pesticide finding.
Why it matters
You can reassure worried parents: eating produce during pregnancy is safe and may help.
When families ask about “toxins,” point them toward balanced meals, not pricey “detox” tests.
If a child shows traits, check current nutrient intake instead of hunting past chemical exposures.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Prior work has suggested associations between prenatal exposure to several classes of pesticides and child autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined a previously developed pesticide residue burden score (PRBS) and intake of high pesticide residue foods in association with ASD-related traits. Participants were drawn from the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) (n = 256), a cohort following mothers who previously had a child with ASD through a subsequent pregnancy and that child's development. ASD-related traits were captured according to total Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores at age 3 (mean raw total SRS score = 35.8). Dietary intake was assessed through a food frequency questionnaire collected during pregnancy. We also incorporated organic intake and fatty foods in modified versions of the PRBS. Associations between high-residue fruit and vegetable intake, the overall PRBS and modified versions of it, and SRS scores were assessed using multivariable linear regression. Overall, we did not observe associations between pesticide residues in foods and ASD-related outcomes, and modified versions of the PRBS yielded similar findings. However, reductions in ASD-related traits were observed with higher overall fruit and vegetable intake (adjusted estimates for Q4 vs. Q1: β -12.76, 95%CI -27.8, 2.3). Thus, findings from this high familial probability cohort did not suggest relationships between pesticide residues in the diet according to the PRBS and ASD-related traits. Beneficial effects of fruit and vegetable intake may influence these relationships. Future work should consider fruit and vegetable intake in association with ASD-related outcomes. LAY SUMMARY: Diet is the main source of exposure to most pesticides in use today. In this study, we examined the relationship between pesticide exposure from residues in the diet during pregnancy and child autism-related traits. We found that these pesticide residues from the diet were not related to child autism-related outcomes at age three. However, higher prenatal fruit and vegetable intake was associated with reductions in child autism-related traits.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2022 · doi:10.1093/pch/pxz119