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There is an apparent link between exposure to certain neurodevelopmental toxins and an increased possibility of developing neurological disorders including autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research from Northeastern University pharmacy professor Richard Deth and colleagues from the University of Nebraska, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins University. 

The research, published in the April 2004 issue of Molecular Psychiatry, found that exposure to toxins, such as ethanol and heavy metals interrupt growth factor signaling, causing adverse effects on methylation reactions.  Methylation, in turn, plays a significant role in regulating normal DNA function and gene expression, and is critical to proper neurological development in infants and children.  Although reasons remain unknown, there has been an increase in diagnoses of autism and ADHD.

The authors of the study found that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and the neurotransmitter dopamine both stimulated folate-dependent methylation pathways in neuronal cells.  They also noted that compounds like thimerosal, ethanol, and metals (for example, lead and mercury) effectively inhibited these same biochemical pathways at concentrations that are typically found following vaccination or other sources of exposure. 

Understanding what happens when infants and children are exposed to these materials helps explain how environmental contact with metals and administration of certain vaccines may lead to serious disorders that manifest themselves during childhood, including autism and ADHD.

“Scientists certainly acknowledge that exposure to neurotoxins like ethanol and heavy metals can cause developmental disorders, but until now, the precise mechanisms underlying their toxicity have not been know,” said Deth.  “The recent increase in the incidence of autism led us to speculate that environmental exposures, including vaccine additives, might contribute to triggering of t his disorder.”

Thimerosal was often used for its preservative abilities in multi-dose units of vaccines for diseases like hepatitis, whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria.  Although thirmerosal has been mostly phased out in the United States and Europe beginning in 2000, vaccines today can carry trace amounts of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Thimerosal, however, is still common in third world countries where larger, multi-dose vials of these vaccines are shipped

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