Researchers found a relationship, which may seem strange at first glance, between exposure of pregnant women to pesticides and an increased risk of autism.
A recent study showed that children who were exposed to insecticides before they were born, and during their first year of life, were at greater than 10% risk of autism.
A team of researchers at the School of Public Health at the University of California, USA, warned of the increased exposure of pregnant women to pesticides, and said that these substances may increase the risk of autism with mental disability, increasing the size of the problem to 50%.
Although the findings are disputed because autism is linked to multiple genetic factors, the Daily Mail confirms that researchers found that children exposed to pesticides had a slight increase in the risk of autism by about 8 percent.
"The risk of gonaditis may increase with prenatal exposure to several common insecticides that have influenced neurodevelopment in experimental studies conducted by the team on cases of autism that have been confirmed as a result," the researchers conclude.