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An updated systematic review on the maternal exposure to environmental pesticides and involved mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) progression risk in children

  • Maryam Maleki , Zahra Noorimotlagh EMAIL logo , Seyyed Abbas Mirzaee ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Neemat Jaafarzadeh , Susana Silva Martinez , Fakher Rahim ORCID logo and Mohammadreza Kaffashian
Published/Copyright: September 21, 2022
Reviews on Environmental Health
From the journal Reviews on Environmental Health Volume 38 Issue 4

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increased dramatically over the past 25 years because of genetic and environmental factors. This systematic review (SR) aimed to determine the association between maternal exposure during pregnancy to environmental pesticides and other associations with the risk of ASD progression in children. PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus (Elsevier) and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science were searched using appropriate keywords up to March 2021. Twenty-four studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were selected. Most studies reported that ASD increases the risk of offspring after prenatal exposure to environmental pesticides in pregnant mother’s residences, against offspring of women from the same region without this exposure. The main potential mechanisms inducing ASD progressions are ROS and prostaglandin E2 synthesis, AChE inhibition, voltage-gated sodium channel disruption, and GABA inhibition. According to the included studies, the highest rates of ASD diagnosis increased relative to organophosphates, and the application of the most common pesticides near residences might enhance the prevalence of ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; environmental pesticides; maternal exposure; neurobehavior; pregnancy
Corresponding authors: Zahra Noorimotlagh, Health and Environment Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran, Phone: +988432235746, E-mail: ; and Seyyed Abbas Mirzaee, Health and Environment Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran; and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran, Phone: +989183459155, E-mail:

Funding source: Ilam University of Medical Sciences

Award Identifier / Grant number: IR.MEDILAM.REC.1399.171

  1. Research funding: This present work has been funded by Ilam University of Medical Sciences (IR.MEDILAM.REC.1399.171).

  2. Author contributions: Maryam Maleki: Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Neemat Jaafarzadeh: Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Fakher Rahim: Conceptualization, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Mohamadreza Kaffashian: Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Susana Silva Martinez: Validation, Writing – review & editing. Zahra Noorimotlagh: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Supervision. Seyyed Abbas Mirzaee: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Project administration.

  3. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

  4. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  5. Ethical approval: The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2022-0092).

Received: 2022-06-12
Accepted: 2022-08-27
Published Online: 2022-09-21
Published in Print: 2023-12-15

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2022-0092
Keywords for this article
autism spectrum disorder; environmental pesticides; maternal exposure; neurobehavior; pregnancy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. A meta-analysis of the risk of salivary gland tumors associated with mobile phone use: the importance of correct exposure assessment
  4. An investigation into the present levels of contamination in children’s toys and jewelry in different countries: a systematic review
  5. Analysis of physiological markers and risk factors for the development of rhabdomyolysis in military personnel: a systematic review
  6. Cell proliferation assay for determination of estrogenic components in food: a systematic review
  7. Investigation ways of causes needle sticks injuries, risk factors affecting on health and ways to preventive
  8. The impact of nature-led recovery initiatives for individual and community health post disaster: a systematic literature review
  9. Acrylamide; a neurotoxin in popcorns: a systematic review and meta-analysis
  10. Havana syndrome: a scoping review of the existing literature
  11. Emerging trends and knowledge domain of research on urban green open spaces and wellbeing: A scientometric review
  12. A critical review on global CO2 emission: where do industries stand?
  13. Global systematic review and meta-analysis on prevalence and concentration of aflatoxins in peanuts oil and probabilistic risk assessment
  14. Noise exposure and the risk of cancer: a comprehensive systematic review
  15. An updated systematic review on the maternal exposure to environmental pesticides and involved mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) progression risk in children
  16. Exploring the links between indoor air pollutants and health outcomes in South Asian countries: a systematic review
  17. Letter to the Editor
  18. The influence of Maslow’s hammer. Response to: electromagnetic hypersensitivity close to mobile phone base stations – a case study in Stockholm, Sweden
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