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Heavy Metal in Children’s Tooth Enamel: Related to Autism and Disruptive Behaviors?

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Abstract

To examine possible links between neurotoxicant exposure and neuropsychological disorders and child behavior, relative concentrations of lead, mercury, and manganese were examined in prenatal and postnatal enamel regions of deciduous teeth from children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), high levels of disruptive behavior (HDB), and typically developing (TD) children. Using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, we found no significant differences in levels of these neurotoxicants for children with ASDs compared with TD children, but there was marginal significance indicating that children with ASDs have lower manganese levels. No significant differences emerged between children with HDB and TD children. The current findings challenge the notion that perinatal heavy metal exposure is a major contributor to the development of ASDs and HDB.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the families that participated in this study. Also, we thank Monica Tromp for her assistance with analyses. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Newkirk Center for Science and Society (J. Ericson, K.A. Clarke-Stewart, P.I.), NIH-CPEA (#HD 35458 to M.A. Spence), and NIH/NICHD (K.A. Clarke-Stewart, P.I.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA

    Maryam M. Abdullah, Agnes R. Ly, Wendy A. Goldberg & K. Alison Clarke-Stewart

  2. Department of Anthropology, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA

    John V. Dudgeon

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Christopher G. Mull

  4. School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, Social Ecology I, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Tony J. Chan, Erin E. Kent & Jonathon E. Ericson

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Andrew Z. Mason

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  1. Maryam M. Abdullah
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  2. Agnes R. Ly
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  3. Wendy A. Goldberg
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  4. K. Alison Clarke-Stewart
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  10. Jonathon E. Ericson
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Correspondence to Wendy A. Goldberg.

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Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jonathon Ericson, whose vision was the inspiration for this research.

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Abdullah, M.M., Ly, A.R., Goldberg, W.A. et al. Heavy Metal in Children’s Tooth Enamel: Related to Autism and Disruptive Behaviors?. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 929–936 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1318-6

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