ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2011
Residential proximity to freeways and autism in the CHARGE study.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 176 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
176 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 349 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global autism prevalence, and exploring Montessori as a practical educational solution: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Environmental pollutants as risk factors for autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Association between particulate matter air pollution and risk of depression and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Pooled it
- Perinatal Exposure to Environmental Endocrine Disruptors in the Emergence of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Outdoor Air Pollution and Brain Structure and Function From Across Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Methodological Review of Brain MRI Studies.Frontiers in public health · 2019Pooled it
- Maternal smoking and autism spectrum disorder: meta-analysis with population smoking metrics as moderators.Scientific reports · 2017Pooled it
- Environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorders.Der Nervenarzt · 2016Pooled it
- Maternal Smoking and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2015Pooled it
- Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- Environmental Enrichment Therapy for Autism: Outcomes with Increased Access.Neural plasticity · 2016Trial
- Effects of combined prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on social behavior and oxytocin and vasopressin systems in male and female mice.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Effects of combined prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on immune and dopaminergic gene expression in the gut-brain axis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Effects of combined prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on social behavior and oxytocin and vasopressin systems in male and female mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Effects of Air Pollution on Neurological Diseases: A Narrative Review on Causes and Mechanisms.Toxics · 2025Review
- Effects of particulate air pollution exposure on lung-brain axis and related miRNAs modulation in mouse models.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- A systematic computational analysis of pharmacological options in neuroinflammatory-induced autism spectrum disorder in children: A potential for drug repositioning.Journal of biological methods · 2025Article
- Risk of autism spectrum disorder at 18 months of age is associated with prenatal level of polychlorinated biphenyls exposure in a Japanese birth cohort.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Prenatal environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorder and their potential mechanisms.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals including phthalates, phenols, and parabens in infancy: Associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes in the MARBLES study.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2024Article
- The association between prenatal oxidative stress levels measured by isoprostanes and offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes at 36 months.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
116 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLittle is known about environmental causes and contributing factors for autism. Basic science and epidemiologic research suggest that oxidative stress and inflammation may play a role in disease development. Traffic-related air pollution, a common exposure with established effects on these pathways, contains substances found to have adverse prenatal effects.
objectivesWe examined the association between autism and proximity of residence to freeways and major roadways during pregnancy and near the time of delivery, as a surrogate for air pollution exposure.
methodsData were from 304 autism cases and 259 typically developing controls enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study. The mother's address recorded on the birth certificate and trimester-specific addresses derived from a residential history obtained by questionnaire were geocoded, and measures of distance to freeways and major roads were calculated using ArcGIS software. Logistic regression models compared residential proximity to freeways and major roads for autism cases and typically developing controls.
resultsAdjusting for sociodemographic factors and maternal smoking, maternal residence at the time of delivery was more likely be near a freeway (≤ 309 m) for cases than for controls [odds ratio (OR)=1.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-3.45]. Autism was also associated with residential proximity to a freeway during the third trimester (OR=2.22; CI, 1.16-4.42). After adjustment for socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics, these associations were unchanged. Living near other major roads at birth was not associated with autism.
conclusionsLiving near a freeway was associated with autism. Examination of associations with measured air pollutants is needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.