'Our aspirations for truly becoming the most livable city cannot be realized if our children's health is threatened by dangerous levels of air toxics.

'Addressing this issue must remain one of our region's top priorities.'

Autism spectrum disorders are a range of conditions characterized by social deficits and communication difficulties that typically become apparent early in childhood.

Reported cases of ASD have risen nearly eight-fold in the last two decades.

While previous studies have shown the increase to be partially due to changes in diagnostic practices and greater public awareness of autism, this does not fully explain the increased prevalence.

Both genetic and environmental factors are believed to be partially responsible.

'Our results add to the growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures, such as air pollution, to ASD,' said Dr. Talbott.

'The next step will be confirming our findings with studies that measure the specific exposure to air pollutants at an individual level to verify these EPA-modeled estimates.'

据《每日邮报》10月22日报道，研究者们发现，环境污染可能会导致自闭症。

他们说，患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)儿童更多地是在母亲孕期和出生头两年接触了高浓度的毒性空气污染物。

这一发现可以帮助解释儿童自闭病例的增加。

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