GC-MS inconclusive on PBDE-autism link

Further research using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) may be required to confirm whether a link exists between autism and early exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

Scientists writing in Environmental Health, an open-access periodical covering all aspects of toxicology and epidemiology for occupational and environmental medicine disciplines, report inconclusive outcomes from their GC-MS analysis.

The team, from the University of California and Stockholm University, used the technique to study three groups of children - a control population, those with developmental delay and those measured as residing on the autism spectrum.

Data was drawn from CHARGE, the CHildhood Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment study, but may not have contained enough information about exposure to PBDEs in infancy or in the womb.

As a result, while high levels of PBDEs were found in all three groups, no clear correlation could be made between exposure and increased risk of autism or developmental delay.