Available:*
Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | 616.85 B | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The alarming spike in autism in recent years has sent doctors and parents on a search for answers. While many controversies have erupted, none have brought researchers any closer to a definitive explanation. The Autism Puzzle is the first book to address the compelling evidence that it is the pairing of environmental exposures with genetic susceptibilities that may be driving these rising rates. Belli examines the lives of three families with autistic children, putting a human face on the families caught between the debates and offers a refreshingly balanced perspective.
Author Notes
Formerly the editor of E - the Environmental Magazine , BRITA BELLI is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in the New York Times , National Geographic and on the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Renewable Energy for Your Home and, with Seven Stories, The Autism Puzzle: Connecting the Dots Between Environmental Toxins and Rising Autism Rates. Belli lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
Reviews (1)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Given that autism rates in the U.S. have reached 1 in 110 children, Belli's exploration of the correlation between environmental toxins and this difficult genetic condition couldn't be timelier. A journalist and editor of E/The Environmental Magazine, Belli explains that the "Mad Hatter" in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was inspired by 18th century hatmakers, who after years of working with mercury to transform fur into felt began to exhibit neurological and physical problems. Though we've since learned of the devastating effects of mercury sickness, Belli warns that other chemicals still pose a threat. The author cites a startling recent study of blood taken from the umbilical cords of babies born in the U.S. that revealed therein "an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants, everything from mercury to pesticides to flame retardants." Focusing on the stories of three families with autistic children, Belli examines the myriad substances that might be causing the unprecedented diagnoses of autism in the U.S. Lamenting the "the enormous difficulty of passing any meaningful comprehensive reform," and backed up with plenty of research, the author suggests ways in which individuals might reduce their daily chemical exposure-from going organic, avoiding foods packaged in plastic, and eliminating chemical cleaners from one's household. Grounded in anecdote and reliant on the facts, Belli's study is readable and very informative. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Uncounted Numbers Urban Exposures, Chemical Concentrations, and the Question of Race Thanks to years of public health campaigns and plenty of media coverage, many people are aware that certain types of fish are contaminated by mercury. Mercury released through emissions from coal-burning power plants and municipal and medical waste incinerators takes to the air and is carried along, sometimes for miles, before settling in soil or water. The inorganic mercury is absorbed into microorganisms in the water and converted to an organic substance, methylmercury, which is then consumed by fish. Big fish like shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish eat small, contaminated fish and accumulate high concentrations of toxic methylmercury. Both white (albacore) and canned light tuna contain mercury, too, with a January 2011 investigation from Consumer Reports finding that "children and women of childbearing age can easily consume more mercury than the Environmental Protection Agency considers advisable simply by eating one serving [about 2.5 ounces] of canned white tuna or two servings of light tuna per week. Women who eat large quantities of such fish, both during and after pregnancy, can readily pass that mercury on to infants through umbilical cord blood and through their breast milk. Pregnant women exposed to methylmercury from fish--particularly canned fish--have shown a greater likelihood for giving birth prematurely, and a child born with low birth weight (4.4 pounds or less), such as happens when babies are born premature, is five times as likely to be diagnosed with autism as a child born at normal weight. Recognizing that mercury from seafood "may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised women to limit their consumption of certain fish while pregnant. Knowing of these dangers, many women choose not to eat fish high in mercury during pregnancy. But most populations exposed to toxic chemicals are not made aware that their food, water, or air could be poisonous. The likelihood of chemical exposure is deeply intertwined with a community's socioeconomic status; factories that spew pollution are often allowed to operate with impunity alongside poor communities whose residents aren't given the choice to opt out by simply avoiding contaminated items. An early example of what can occur when factories pollute unchecked happened in Minamata, Japan, a small village of rice farmers and fishermen who depended on fish and shellfish from the Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea. In 1907 the Chisso Corporation opened a carbide plant on the shores of the bay. The townspeople initially welcomed the factory with the hope that it would bring economic prosperity. In 1930 the Chisso factory turned its attentions to the production of materials that could be used for Japan's growing military needs--specifically acetaldehyde, or ethanol, a needed energy source for a country without its own oil supplies, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which was used for airplane parts. As the factory rapidly expanded its production, it dumped increasing amounts of untreated waste into local water supplies, contaminating the bay and the sea with methylmercury from 1932 to 1968. As the chemical bioaccumulated in the local fish and shellfish, widespread mercury poisoning--Minamata disease, as it came to be called--seeped into the village. It was the cats they noticed first--acting crazy, falling into the sea, as if they were committing suicide. The first official case of Minamata disease was recorded in 1956, when two sisters, ages five and two, exhibited symptoms that included convulsions, muscle contractions, twisting and repetitive movements of the hands and feet, and sudden screaming fits. They were determined to have an unknown disease of the central nervous system. Soon researchers from Kumamoto University discovered that many residents living around Minamata Bay showed an inability to grasp small objects and difficulty with hearing, seeing, walking, running, and swallowing. Once the symptoms began, they could progress within weeks to massive convulsions, insanity, coma, and death. A black-and-white image of a mother and child known as "La Pieta de Minamata" has come to symbolize the heartbreak. The mother's head is wrapped in a scarf, her shoulders bare, her face lit ethereally, as she cradles and bathes her profoundly disabled child. The child looks, in fact, to be a young man, his neck muscles strained, legs and arms shortened and deformed, hands shriveled and bent. The National Institute for Minamata Disease reports that as of 2001 there have been nearly 3,000 certified patients with the disease--some 1,784 of whom have died--and more than 10,000 with "applicable conditions such as sensory disorders or a high consumption of marine products." Not until April 2006, nearly fifty years from the first report of the disease, did sufferers and their caregivers receive a formal apology from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for the Japanese government's failure to stop the pollution. Many victims are still fighting legal battles for compensation. The Minamata tragedy was clearly linked to the Chisso factory, but it is often difficult to pin symptoms and diseases on exposure to chemicals from one particular source. People living in highly polluted urban areas are subject to a host of environmental contaminants that can lead to preterm birth. Pregnant mothers are more likely to give birth prematurely, or give birth to babies who are small for their gestational age, when they live near highways and are exposed to the associated air pollution, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. Excerpted from The Autism Puzzle: Connecting the Dots Between Environmental Toxins and Rising Autism Rates by Brita Belli All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.Table of Contents
Introduction The Missing Percentage: Why Genetics Alone CanÆt Explain the Steady Climb | p. 1 |
1 Uncounted Numbers: Urban Exposures, Chemical Concentrations and the Question of Race | p. 13 |
2 Foreign Bodies: How We All Became Carriers of Mercury, Triclosan, and Flame Retardants | p. 29 |
3 Dumped On: When Chemicals Act in Combination | p. 49 |
4 Gut Reactions: Bowel Issues, Alternative Treatments, and Life-Saving Support | p. 71 |
5 Birth Complications: Weighing the Risks of Inductions, Medications, and Early Cord Clamping | p. 91 |
6 Our Chemical World: The Long Reach of Plastics and Pesticides | p. 111 |
7 Unanswered Questions: Avoiding Toxins and Taking Action | p. 147 |
Resources | p. 167 |
Acknowledgements | p. 173 |
Notes | p. 175 |
Index | p. 199 |
About The Author | p. 213 |