The Autism Puzzle
The Autism Puzzle
CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS AND RISING AUTISM RATES
BRITA BELLI
New York
Copyright © by Brita Belli A Seven Stories Press First Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Seven Stories Press Watts Street New York, NY www.sevenstories.com College professors may order examination copies of Seven Stories Press titles for a free six-month trial period. To order, visit www.sevenstories.com/ textbook or send a fax on school letterhead to () -. Book design by Elizabeth DeLong Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Belli, Brita. The autism puzzle : connecting the dots between environmental toxins and rising autism rates / Brita Belli. -- st ed. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ---- (hardback) I. Title. [DNLM: . Autistic Disorder--etiology. . Environmental Pollutants-adverse effects. WS ..P] LC classification not assigned
.’--dc Printed in the United States
In loving memory of my father, Howard Jon Brundage
contents = The Missing Percentage: Why Genetics Alone Can’t Explain the Steady Climb
Uncounted Numbers: Urban Exposures, Chemical Concentrations, and the Question of Race
Foreign Bodies: How We All Became Carriers of Mercury, Triclosan, and Flame Retardants
Dumped On: When Chemicals Act in Combination
Gut Reactions: Bowel Issues, Alternative Treatments, and Life-Saving Support
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Birth Complications: Weighing the Risks of Inductions, Medications, and Early Cord Clamping
Our Chemical World: The Long Reach of Plastics and Pesticides
Unanswered Questions: Avoiding Toxins and Taking Action
introduction
The Missing Percentage
Why Genetics Alone Can’t Explain the Steady Climb
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the lovable Hatter (Carroll didn’t actually call his character the “Mad Hatter,” though most people do) was based on eighteenth century hatmakers. Hatters were “mad” for a reason: they toiled in poorly ventilated rooms using orange-colored mercury nitrate to cure fur into felt, which could be more easily shaped and manipulated into the latest fashions. The process was called “carroting” due to the solution’s color. After years spent shaping hats, these workers began exhibiting signs of neurological damage—stumbling, slurred speech, and shaking that became known in the city of Danbury, Connecticut, once the hat-making capital of the world, as “the Danbury shakes.” In its heyday, the city produced five million hats per year. When the hat factories closed, the shaky legacy remained. Mercury from the factories’ wastewater settled in the sediment of the city’s Still River. “You could tell the color of the hats you were making by looking at the Still River,” eighty-six-year-old Bob Reynolds, a former hat factory worker, told local newspaper The News-