Reacción a "A study claims that exposure to fine particulate matter pollution during pregnancy is associated with an increase in autism diagnoses"

This study is showing correlation between air pollution exposure and potential cognitive development towards neurodivergence and autism.

This study is not confirming air pollution exposure causes autism in children. This is because we do not know the biological pathways where air pollution could change neuro-development in this way. We do know that negative impacts on cognitive function are associated with air pollution exposure but most of this research is for an older age category.

The study highlights important next steps around introducing socioeconomic variables alongside air pollution to suggest why an individual might be neurodiverse Vs neurotypical, another approach is called life course analysis where we model air pollution over different phases of life.