Mercury Levels Not Abnormal in Autistic Children
MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds no differences in blood mercury levels between children who are developing normally and those diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorders.
The findings, appearing online Oct. 19 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, may quell some of the debate surrounding mercury and autism.
The researchers did not, for instance, look at whether mercury might play a causal role in this group of developmental disorders.
"This is an excellent study that has addressed a very important question for many families about the role of mercury [in autism]," said Dr. Patricia Manning-Courtney, medical director of The Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "It's a very clear study [in] that no differences in mercury were seen. Is it going to put the questions to rest? I think no. It's another important contribution to the large body of knowledge on this topic, but I think it will still be an area of great controversy."
Previous studies have shown higher blood mercury levels in people with autism, but the results, along with the quality of the studies, have been inconsistent.
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If you want to know the mercury load of somebody, you have to look at the mercury concentration in the organs, not in the blood. WHO says: "There are at present no suitable indicator media that will reflect concentrations of inorganic mercury in the critical organs, the brain or kidney, under different exposure situations. [ ... ]
One important consequence is that concentrations of mercury in urine or blood may be low quite soon after exposure has ceased, despite the fact that concentrations in the critical organs may still be high." (Environmental health criteria, Vol. 118: Inorganic mercury; written 1991). Therefore this study is useless and misleading.
Unfortunately I found no link to the study in EHP.
Regards, Reinhard Lauer