Air Pollution and Autism in Israel: A Population-Wide Study

项目摘要/摘要 几项研究探索了空气污染与自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的关系，除了 其中一个建议是空气污染的某些方面会增加患自闭症的风险，但这种联系的细节 仍然不确定。虽然这些研究发现，特别是与交通相关的污染物和 颗粒物(PM)，它们一般都相对较小，大多数仅限于加利福尼亚州。 台湾的一项研究，瑞典的一项研究(双胞胎)，以及一项结合了几个欧洲队列的研究是唯一的 非美国的研究，他们得出了不同的结论。需要对这些暴露进行更多的探索 在美国以外的背景下。此外，了解暴露的关键窗口，并受影响 人口是至关重要的。我们的一项研究和另一项研究表明，这种影响特定于妊娠晚期。之前 我们的研究还表明，与空气污染物的联系可能仅限于男孩，但数字 在女孩中，自闭症病例的比例太小，无法充分解决这一问题。我们的目标是研究基本问题 母亲接触空气污染物与自闭症之间的联系，以及任何联系的细节，在 在一个非常不同的背景下，一个非常大的群体：以色列的人口。以色列代表着一个独特的环境 对空气污染物和ASD的研究有几个原因：1)空气污染水平更高，范围更广 2)零星发生的沙尘暴造成了非常及时的极端暴露事件 非常不同的PM形式；3)我们拥有经过充分验证的、高度分辨率的-在空间和时间-两者的模型 PM和二氧化氮(NO2，与交通有关的空气污染的标志)暴露；以及4)数据库非常 几年前，整个以色列人口中有超过8000例自闭症病例。有了这些数据 我们将研究母亲暴露在PM、NO2和沙尘暴与ASD风险之间的关系。 她的孩子。我们将在每周时间尺度上进行暴露估计，并可以检查易受影响的窗口 围产期的暴露，以及是否有任何关联是男孩特有的或被其他关键因素修改 因素，例如族是单一的还是多层的，达到了以前没有考虑过的程度。

Project Summary/Abstract Several studies have explored associations of air pollution with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with all but one suggesting that some aspect of air pollution increases the risk of ASD, but details of this association remain uncertain. While these studies have found associations with, in particular, traffic-related pollutants and particulate matter (PM), they have in general been relatively small and most have been limited to California. One study in Taiwan, one in Sweden (among twins), and one combining several European cohorts are the only non-U.S. studies, and they came to different conclusions. More exploration of these exposures are needed outside the U.S. context. Furthermore, understanding critical windows of exposure, and susceptible populations is critical. A study of ours and one other have suggested effects specific to the 3rd trimester. Prior work of ours has also suggested that associations with air pollutants may be specific to boys, but the numbers of ASD cases among girls were too small to adequately address this. Our goal is to examine the basic question of the association between maternal exposure to air pollutants and ASD, and details of any association, in a very large cohort in a very different setting: the population of Israel. Israel represents a unique setting for the study of air pollutants and ASD for several reasons: 1) Air pollution levels are higher and with a wider range than in the US; 2) Dust storms occur sporadically that create very well timed extreme exposure events to a very different form of PM; 3) we have well-validated, highly resolved—in both space and time—models of both PM and nitrogen dioxide (NO2, a marker of traffic-related air pollution) exposure; and 4) the database is very large with over 8,000 ASD cases across the entire Israeli population going back several years. With these data we will examine the association between maternal exposure to PM, NO2, and dust storms and risk of ASD in her child. We will have exposure estimates on a weekly time scale and can examine susceptible windows of exposure in the perinatal period, and whether any association is specific to boys or modified by other key factors, such as whether the family is simplex or multiplex, to an extent not previously done.