ArticleFrontiers in pediatrics2023
Association between heavy metals exposure (cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury) and child autistic disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Frontiers in pediatrics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Presymptomatic Biological, Structural, and Functional Diagnostic Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of neurochemistry · 2025Pooled it
- Investigating the role of food pollutants in autism spectrum disorder: a comprehensive analysis of heavy metals, pesticides, and mycotoxins.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 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
- Exposure to heavy metals in utero and autism spectrum disorder at age 3: a meta-analysis of two longitudinal cohorts of siblings of children with autism.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Pooled it
- Hair Metals and Essential Trace Element Profiles in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (F84.0): an Exploratory Case-Control Study With Sex Stratified Descriptive Analyses.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Environmental Risk Factors, Toxic Metals, and Essential Elements in Urine Samples of Algerian Children with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurotypical Children.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Associations of prenatal metal exposures with autism-related outcomes in the ECHO cohort.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Ameliorative Potential of a Lactobacillus Based Probiotic Consortium Against Hepatotoxicity Induced by Combinatorial Exposure to Multiple Heavy Metals.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Utility of Hair Toxic Metals in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Unlocking Biomarkers Among Egyptian Children.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Child Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Maternal Abuse and Trauma History.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Detection of Arsenic at Micromolar Concentrations and Remediation of Arsenic from Drinking Water with a Bemliese Teabag.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Environmental metal exposure and autism spectrum disorder: spatial analysis of exposure patterns and associated risk among children in Alabama.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Environmental metals, prostaglandin pathways, and immune-mediated neuroinflammation in autism spectrum disorder: A secondary analysis of peripheral biomarker studies.Metabolic brain disease · 2026Article
- A Noisy Signal? Geographic Bias in FAERS Reports Linking Paracetamol to Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Co-exposure to lead and cadmium is associated with increased severity of social deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- The Neuroimmunology of Autism.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Essential Minerals in the Hair of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Association with Symptom Severity.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Associations between element mixtures and biomarkers of pathophysiologic pathways related to autism spectrum disorder.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2025Article
- Metallomic Profiling of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Sarajevo Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Insights from Hair Sample Analysis.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Hematological Parameters and Mercury Exposure in Children Living Along Gold-Mining-Impacted Rivers in the Mojana Region, Colombia.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Studies have found that toxic heavy metals exposure could induce the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and is of epigenetic effect, which might be associated with the occurrence of Autistic Disorder (ASD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to elucidate the association between exposure to 4 heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic(As), and mercury (Hg), and the occurrence of ASD in children. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library, from their inception to October 2022, for epidemiological investigations that explore the association between exposure to Cd, Pb, As, or Hg and the occurrence of child ASD. Results: A total of 53 studies were included, involving 5,054 individuals aged less than 18 (2,533 ASD patients and 2,521 healthy controls). Compared with the healthy controls, in hair and blood tests, concentrations of the 4 heavy metals were significantly higher in the ASD group than in the healthy control group, and the differences in Pb, arsenic and Hg were statistically significant ( Conclusion: Compared with the healthy control group, the ASD group had higher concentrations of Cd, Pb, arsenic, and Hg. These 4 heavy metals play different roles in the occurrence and progression of ASD. Moreover, there is significant heterogeneity among the included studies due to controversies about the study results among different countries and regions and different sources of detection materials. The results of this study firmly support the policies to limit heavy metals exposure, especially among pregnant women and young children, so as to help reduce the incidence of ASD.
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