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

项目总结/摘要 几项研究探讨了空气污染与自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的关系， 其中一个建议是，空气污染的某些方面会增加ASD的风险，但这种关联的细节 仍然不确定。虽然这些研究发现，特别是与交通有关的污染物， 颗粒物（PM），它们一般相对较小，并且大多数局限于加州。 台湾的一项研究，瑞典的一项研究（双胞胎），以及一项结合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。需要对这些风险进行更多的探索 在美国之外。此外，了解暴露的关键窗口， 人口至关重要。我们的一项研究和另一项研究表明了妊娠晚期特有的影响。之前 我们的工作也表明，与空气污染物的联系可能是男孩特有的，但数字 女孩中ASD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 母亲暴露于空气污染物和ASD之间的关联，以及任何关联的细节，在一个 在一个非常不同的环境中的一个非常大的群体：以色列的人口。以色列代表了一个独特的环境， 研究空气污染物和ASD的原因有几个：1）空气污染水平较高，范围较广 2）沙尘暴零星发生，造成非常及时的极端暴露事件， 非常不同的PM形式; 3）我们有很好的验证，高度分辨率-在空间和时间-模型 PM和二氧化氮（NO2，与交通有关的空气污染的标志）暴露;和4）数据库是非常 在整个以色列人口中，有超过8，000例ASD病例可以追溯到几年前。与这些数据 我们将研究母亲暴露于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的时间尺度上进行暴露估计，并可以检查 在围产期的接触，以及是否有任何关联是专门为男孩或修改的其他关键 这些因素，如家庭是单一的还是多重的，在某种程度上以前没有做过。

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.