from http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBmd6...0Ep&uac=17208PT (you need to join to read articles) and 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research: Oral Presentation 113.4; Invited Educational Symposium 140.5. May 15-17, 2008
report of statistics linking pyrethrin in anti-flea pet shampoos and birth of autistic (human) babies.
the initial paragraphs:
Marlene Busko
Medscape Medical News 2008. © 2008 Medscape
May 20, 2008 (London, United Kingdom) — Compared with mothers of typically developing children, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders were twice as likely to report that they had shampooed their pets with pyrethrin-containing antiflea/antitick shampoos around the time of their pregnancy, in a Californian case-control study that looked at household pesticide use.
The findings were presented by lead study author Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD, from the University of California, Davis, at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research.
When participants in the study, the Childhood Autism Risks and the Environment (CHARGE) trial, were questioned about their prenatal, gestational, and postnatal use of pesticides, the researchers found that products containing pyrethrin — pet shampoos and certain sprays for controlling flies, ants, and cockroaches — were associated with an increased risk for autism spectrum disorders.
These are initial findings and need to be confirmed in other population studies, Dr. Hertz-Picciotto told Medscape Psychiatry, adding: "The bottom line here is [that pyrethrin] is something that really deserves further study."
It is important to remember that autism is multifactorial, she stressed, explaining that "generally speaking, probably most cases of autism arise from multiple genetic as well as multiple environmental factors."
When the researchers went back and analyzed the data according to products containing pyrethrin (which included some sprays for controlling flies, ants, and cockroaches, as well as pet shampoos) instead of by product type, the association between pyrethrin and autism spectrum disorder remained
... ...
Outdoors, pyrethrin has a very short half-life, but indoors it lingers for a long time — for example, in pet hairs — so that people continue to be exposed, she noted. Concerned consumers can seek out more natural, nontoxic alternatives (such as boric acid for cockroaches).
report of statistics linking pyrethrin in anti-flea pet shampoos and birth of autistic (human) babies.
the initial paragraphs:
Marlene Busko
Medscape Medical News 2008. © 2008 Medscape
May 20, 2008 (London, United Kingdom) — Compared with mothers of typically developing children, mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders were twice as likely to report that they had shampooed their pets with pyrethrin-containing antiflea/antitick shampoos around the time of their pregnancy, in a Californian case-control study that looked at household pesticide use.
The findings were presented by lead study author Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD, from the University of California, Davis, at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research.
When participants in the study, the Childhood Autism Risks and the Environment (CHARGE) trial, were questioned about their prenatal, gestational, and postnatal use of pesticides, the researchers found that products containing pyrethrin — pet shampoos and certain sprays for controlling flies, ants, and cockroaches — were associated with an increased risk for autism spectrum disorders.
These are initial findings and need to be confirmed in other population studies, Dr. Hertz-Picciotto told Medscape Psychiatry, adding: "The bottom line here is [that pyrethrin] is something that really deserves further study."
It is important to remember that autism is multifactorial, she stressed, explaining that "generally speaking, probably most cases of autism arise from multiple genetic as well as multiple environmental factors."
When the researchers went back and analyzed the data according to products containing pyrethrin (which included some sprays for controlling flies, ants, and cockroaches, as well as pet shampoos) instead of by product type, the association between pyrethrin and autism spectrum disorder remained
... ...
Outdoors, pyrethrin has a very short half-life, but indoors it lingers for a long time — for example, in pet hairs — so that people continue to be exposed, she noted. Concerned consumers can seek out more natural, nontoxic alternatives (such as boric acid for cockroaches).
