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Last week the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, Subcommittee on Children’s Health convened a special hearing on potential environmental health factors associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The hearing examined the latest research on potential environmental factors that may increase the risk for autism spectrum disorders.

According to Autism Speaks, a nonprofit agency that is committed to changing the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders, this hearing reviewed studies funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on environmental factors associated with autism, including toxins and other factors that can influence brain development. Autism Speaks’ Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. reiterated that it is important to remember that, “Although genetic factors clearly contribute to the causes of autism, we also need to understand environmental factors and their interactions with genetic susceptibility.”

A government study published in the October 2009 issue of Pediatrics, estimates the prevalence of ASD to be about one in every 91 children, a significant increase from the previous 2003 estimate of one in 150. That currently translates to about 673,000 American children with some form of autism. The dramatic increase in autism prevalence over the last decade serves to underscore the need for more research on environmental factors.