Prenatal Exposure to Extreme Heat and Autism in Children
Southern California Center for Children’s Environmental Health Translational Research (SC-CEHRT)
University of Southern California and UC Irvine
This study — which was co-authored by SC-CEHRT Co-Director, Dr. Rob McConnell — examined the associations of temperatures during pregnancy on autism diagnoses across a retrospective birth study cohort that followed 294,937 children from 2001 to 2014 and recorded if autism was diagnosed by age 5. Maximum and minimum day and night temperatures were estimated based on maternal residential addresses using the gridMET model. The study found that exposures to high nighttime temperatures during pregnancy were associated with autism risk in children. This conclusion is especially significant in the face of climate change.
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