Mercury and autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

The authors present a review of literature on the involvement of perinatal and postnatal mercury exposure in the pathogenesis of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). A number of studies have shown a reliable association between perinatal and postnatal exposure to mercury and ASD development aa well as clinical and laboratory markers of the severity of these disorders. However the association was not confirmed in other studies. Such contradictions may be explained by differences in the composition of study groups, including geographical characteristics, and the influence of the factors related to mercury neurotoxicity.