MONDAY, Aug. 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Prenatal organophosphate pesticide (OP) exposure is not associated with autism-related traits in childhood, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in JAMA Pediatrics.
Haleigh M. Cavalier, M.P.H., Ph.D., from NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues examined the association between prenatal OP exposure and autism-related traits in childhood in a pooled prospective cohort study using harmonized data from mother-child pairs from 20 sites in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes cohort. A total of 3,339 mother-child pairs were examined; parents reported autism-related traits in children using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), administered at a mean age of 6.4 years.
The researchers found that inverse associations were suggested in crude or minimally adjusted models between prenatal 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol or the sum of 6 dialkyl phosphate metabolites and SRS scores; after full adjustment, these associations were attenuated and lost statistical significance. Across sex-stratified models, secondary analyses using quantile and logistic regressions, various sensitivity analyses, and after adjustments for dietary confounders, the results were consistent. No evidence was seen for effect modification by diet quality.
"While we know that that organophosphate pesticides can harm the developing brain, they were not a major driver of characteristics seen in autism at the relatively low exposure levels we observed," Cavalier said in a statement. "These results should not be interpreted to mean that such pesticides are safe, nor do they rule out autism-related risks at higher exposures or among more vulnerable groups."
One author disclosed ties to Linus Biotechnology; a second author received personal fees from an editorial role with Environmental Pollution.
