Parents who are sensitive to chemicals more likely to have children with ADHD, autism

Chemical intolerance in parents can predict the risk of autism and ADHD in their children, a new study – the first of its kind – has found, suggesting that reducing exposure to toxic environments prior to and during pregnancy could lessen the risk of either condition occurring. 

Led by researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) the study used findings from a population-based survey of nearly 8,000 U.S. adults, using the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI©), to identify those with chemical intolerance. 

Chemical intolerance (CI) is a term used to describe a condition in which the sufferer experiences a complex array of recurrent unspecified symptoms attributed to low-level chemical exposure that most people regard as unproblematic. Severe CI constitutes the distinguishing feature of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).

Researchers found that parents with CI scores in the top tenth percentile were 5.7 times as likely to report a child with autism and 2.1 times as likely with ADHD compared with parents in the bottom tenth percentile. The findings build on a 2015 study by UT Health San Antonio that first linked chemical intolerance in patients with the risk of their children developing autism and ADHD.

“This is the first-ever article in the medical literature showing that chemical intolerance in parents can predict the risk of autism and ADHD in their children, and suggests that reducing exposures prior to and during pregnancy could help prevention,” Professor Claudia S. Miller explained. “Up to now, most interventions have been behavioural or medical, after a child is diagnosed.”

The researchers acknowledge that the study is observational, and further research is needed using controlled trials to confirm causality and further explore the proposed mechanism behind chemical intolerance.

Assessing Chemical Intolerance in Parents Predicts the Risk of Autism and ADHD in Their Children was published in early March in the Journal of Xenobiotics.