Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday that scientists will look at potential “environmental toxins” he thinks may contribute to a rise in autism diagnoses, and rejected arguments from scientists that the rise has been caused by increased awareness and better diagnostic tools.
Kennedy, speaking at a press conference at the HHS building, cited a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing autism diagnoses increased slightly from 2020 to 2022, saying “the epidemic is real.”
He said HHS will announce a series of studies in the coming weeks hoping to find the cause.
The studies will look at “environmental toxins,” including mold, food additives, pesticides and medicines, he said, adding that scientists looking into those issues have been censored. He mentioned the studies would also look at ultrasounds, parental age at conception, obesity and diabetes.
“People will know they can research and follow the science no matter what it says without any fear it will be censored,” he said, reiterating a promise he made at a recent Cabinet meeting that some answers will be available by September without explaining that timeline.
Kennedy, who has suggested that vaccines may cause autism — a debunked theory — did not mention vaccines at the press conference Wednesday.
Instead, he largely framed autism as a growing problem that has been ignored by the scientific community out of fear.
“We need to move away from this ideology that the autism prevalence increase — the relentless increase — is an artifact of better diagnoses, recognition and changing diagnostic criteria,” Kennedy said.
But that differs from the conclusion reached by a routine report released Tuesday by the CDC, which found an increase in autism prevalence in 8-year-old children in 16 jurisdictions from 2020 to 2022.
The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network — which only covers 16 jurisdictions, so is not nationally representative — has reported the estimates since 2000. It reported Wednesday that among 8-year-old children, 1 in 36 had autism in 2020, compared to 1 in 31 in 2022.
“Differences in prevalence over time and across sites can reflect differing practices in ASD [autism spectrum disorder] evaluation and identification and availability and requirements that affect accessibility of services,” the report stated.
Rates varied widely between jurisdictions, with the highest rate recorded in California.
The state has trained health professionals to screen and refer children for assessment as early as possible “which could result in higher identification of ASD, especially at early ages,” according to the report.
But Kennedy speculated that California’s infrastructure for diagnosing autism means its data “probably also could reflect a national trend.”
Many autism organizations and researchers take the position that autism rates are increasing because of better awareness and diagnostic tools and changes to how it is classified by medical professionals.
While autism’s cause is still unknown, many researchers think genetics plays a major role.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences suggests some factors, combined with genetics, could cause autism, including advanced parental age at time of conception, prenatal exposure to air pollution, maternal obesity or diabetes and extreme prematurity at birth.
But Kennedy said studying genetic causes is a “dead end” and “environmental exposures” is “where we’re going to find the answer.”
“Genes do not cause epidemics,” he said. “You need an environmental toxin.”
Autism researchers and advocates say more focus and research dollars are needed.
“I think there needs to be more investment in autism research across the board. That includes understanding diversity in autism and potential causes, but also treatment, supports and interventions,” said Kristyn Roth, chief marketing officer of the Autism Society of America, an educational and advocacy organization.
Roth said her organization has reached out to HHS but has not heard back and the broader autism community does not seem to have a seat at the table.
She also said it is “incredibly irresponsible” for Kennedy to say “definitively” that autism is caused by environmental toxins.
“While there is no singular cause of autism, we do know it is from a combination of genetic, biological and environmental factors,” Roth said.
She said framing autism as an “epidemic” and “chronic disease” is harmful to people with autism and their families. Kennedy also said Wednesday that “many” people with autism will never pay taxes, have a job, or go on a date.
“To invalidate any other person’s experience and potential and try to generalize their strengths and weaknesses — that’s not something leaders and decision-makers should be doing,” Roth said.
The post HHS to look at environmental toxins as cause of autism appeared first on Roll Call.
