Small study points to possible link between pet shampoos & autism risk

[Holly_Hobby]

Chemicals found in pet shampoos may be linked to a raised risk of autism, a study of how environmental factors influence the developmental disorder has suggested. Mothers who used pesticide-based shampoos to wash their pets while pregnant were twice as likely to have a child with an autistic spectrum disorder as those who did not, according to early results from a US research team.

The findings, from the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study, which is funded by the US National Institutes of Health, raise the possibility that chemicals called pyrethrins found in pet shampoos and flea sprays are linked to a raised risk of autism. Scientists behind the research emphasise that the findings remain preliminary. Mothers of autistic children may be more likely to remember their use of chemicals than are mothers whose children develop normally.

The study asked 333 mothers of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) and 198 mothers of typically developing children to fill in questionnaires about their exposure to environmental chemicals, from three months before they became pregnant to their babies' first birthdays. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, of the University of California-Davis will present preliminary findings today at the International Meeting for Autism Research in London.

“Mothers of ASD children were twice as likely to report using pet shampoos for fleas or ticks during the exposure period as compared with control mothers,” she said. “The strongest association was during the second trimester, but risk was elevated for use in other time windows as well.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3934070.ece

[Muttocracy]

1. pyrethrins are a large class of insecticides, not just in flea/tick. hmmm

[mikeytherat]

3. Pyrethrins come from Chrysanthemums.

Maybe these mothers were gardeners?

mikey_the_rat

[Muttocracy]

4. lots of different compounds in different shampoos probably

haven't read the articles yet - wonder how much detail they got into. Maybe pyrethroids too?

I think the mums with mums would be not concentrated enough unless they worked at a nursery before going back to the nursery! Too many bad puns there.

[mikeytherat]

5. I almost made the "mums with mums" joke, too.

mikey_the_rat

[Muttocracy]

10. you're more tasteful than me - plus I'm in a hurry! :)

[Holly_Hobby]

6. THAT'S the flower I was trying to remember!

Are those popular "Mums" the same as Chrysanthemums? They're incredibly popular and I even see them sold at the grocery store.

I wonder if pyrethins are in in those liquid monthly flea treatments? Thanks.

[Muttocracy]

9. Depends on brand - here's a good article

Sorry I don't have time for a better response but hope this helps; also, bath w/ bare hands all over vs. spot treatment spreading under pet skin = different amount of exposure for pet & human.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=521

[Holly_Hobby]

11. Good point and thanks n/t

[SoCalDem]

14. When we had dogs, we were cheap.. we used BAR SOAP to wash them

of course our dogs were never around the outside much, so we never had one with ticks or fleas..:) we just washed them with ivory soap & hosed 'em down :)

[Muttocracy]

15. I had dogs in MN and never saw a flea, only 1 or 2 ticks. Moved back east

(hadn't had dogs here before) and was astounded by the # of ticks. Really bad in my current neighborhood, probably because there are dozens of deer walking through the neighborhood each night. And they got fleas badly in my previous neighborhood, probably due to many people not caring for their pets at that apt. complex.

I'd much rather go with simple soap and the occasional swim!

[SoCalDem]

21. Our labs lined up and begged to be hosed down

We used a kiddie pool in the back yard..and in the winter, they would get into the shower and get their bath:)

[mikeytherat]

13. Yes: mums = chrysanthemums

mikey_the_rat

[SoCalDem]

2. Chemicals...everywhere in our lives

It's impossible to nail it down, but since we chemicalized ourselves after WWII, we also beagn to kill ourselves:(

Think about it. BEFORE the post-war boom:

carpets were wool
floors were wood
clothes were cotton,linen,wool
shoes were leather
storage containers were glass
diapers were cloth
baby-bottles were glass (nipples were rubber)
toys were wooden or metal or cloth
food was mostly fresh or canned..(usually sans most preservatives)
bakeries were all over the place, bread was fresh daily


"Modern" chemicals are everywhere and in everything now.. there's no way to pin down a "single" culprit because there are so many of them that we "touch" or ingest daily..

We are "screwn"..

[Holly_Hobby]

7. Screwn, indeed n/t

[Tesha]

8. Somehow, I take it you've never read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle".

While there are many sources of contamination now,
there were many others way back when as well.

Different, but still omnipresent.

Tesha

[SoCalDem]

12. I HAVE indeed read that book.. BUT the daily chemicals we come into contact with

is extreme now..and getting worse..

"Back then", contaminants were likely to have been "natural" (even if nasty)..Our bodies were never meant to be able to "absorb" all the unnatural things we come into contact with these days.. We are a tough species and we can handle a lot, but we all have a tipping point, when it all goes haywire..No one knows where that point is..until it's too late :(

[Tesha]

18. I'm sorry, but I don't accept the formaldehyde that was adulterating milk...

...as a "natural" substance. Coal tar products were
also very common then, and are highly carcinogenic.
And that's just two substances...

Tesha

[kestrel91316]

16. There is very little rationale for shampoos with pesticides these days.

Any old shampoo will do, followed by appropriate, safe, effective treatment with any of the newer once-a-month flea/tick products. Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, Advantage Multi..........

[cynatnite]

17. Hmm...

Does not explain my grandsom's autism...

He's the only one in our family with autism. My daughter's apartment complex does not allow pets and she's lived there since before she was pregnant with Stephen.

It's not genetics and it's not this. My daughter and I do believe there is a combination of environmental factors that contributed to Stephen having autism. We just don't know what it is.

I'm passing this on to her.

[Muttocracy]

19. could be another link to the recent mitochondrial DNA if the pesticide affects that

not saying it does, just might be the link.

[cynatnite]

20. Could be...

I'm not an expert. I do think they are on the right track. I'm not sure if there will ever be a cure, but I hope there is a way to prevent it in the future.