A new study carried out in Denmark suggests that women embarrassed by exposure to high levels of lithium in the water from the domestic tap may have a greater risk than their children being diagnosed with some type of autism spectrum disorder, informs the University of California.
The aim of the investigation, published in JAMA Pediatrics, is to focus on how environmental factors, in this case the consumption of water with high levels of lithium, can generate neurodegenerative disorders and affect the neurodevelopment of the population.
According to the details of the educational center, lithium is a metallic element that is found naturally in water, and it has been used for decades to treat psychiatric conditions. However, there is increasingly more evidence that its consumption in large quantities can be associated with a greater risk of miscarriage, birth defects or neurological disorders.
Investigating the effects of lithium
For this, the experts used the patient database and information from the civil registry to identify 52,706 infants born between 2000 and 2013, with or without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. They mapped through 151 different public hydraulic works, a sample that represents the water supply for almost half of the country.
The concentrations of lithium in the water were divided into four equal intervals, ranging from 0.6 to 30.7 μg/L, and the risk of being diagnosed with autism was determined according to the levels of prenatal exposure to the element in every quartile.
Of the 8,842 participants in the study diagnosed with autism, 2,850 came from areas where the levels of lithium in the drinking water were in the highest quarter, compared to 1,718 in the lowest quarter. The second and third quartile levels were associated with a risk of between a 24% and a 26% greater diagnostic compared to the control group.
In the same way, scientists realized that the relationship between lithium and autism was also slightly greater in people who lived in urban areas compared to those who lived in rural areas and smaller populations. The team added controls for some socioeconomic factors and atmospheric contamination, without substantially varying the results.
Past investigations have shown that this element is capable of crossing the placenta and the blood-brain barrier of the fetus, which is why, the authors point out, it is important to continue investigating the possible affections of the brain in development.
“In the future, the anthropogenic sources of lithium in the water could become generalized due to the use of lithium batteries and their disposal in spillways with the potential to contaminate groundwater”, said Beate Ritz, co-author of the study, who has manifested its relevance of this pioneering studio in its type.
