• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.286-292
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• 2021

Background: The effect of exposure to environmental factors on autism spectrum disorders (ASD), especially during pregnancy, is unclear. Purpose: This meta-analysis investigated the association between exposure to pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during pregnancy and ASD risk among children. Methods: We searched Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest for articles published through September 2019. Random-effects models were used to examine the association among studies using pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). I2 tests were used to measure interstudy heterogeneity. Results: The pooled OR indicated a significant association between PCB and pesticide exposure during pregnancy and ASD risk among children (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.26-2.34; and OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02-1.39), respectively. Conclusion: Findings of the present study indicate that exposure to pesticides and PCBs during pregnancy may affect the risk of ASD among children.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.781-784
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• 2014

Background: Although the cause in most cases of childhood leukemia is not known, the contribution of environmental risk factors in the context of genetic predisposition has been reported with inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to examine association of childhood leukemia with maternal factors especially during pregnancy, to help in avoiding risk factors. Materials and Methods: This case-control study included children younger than 18 years diagnosed with leukemia from 2008 to 2012. Controls were randomly selected and individually matched to cases with respect to age, sex, and residency. All variables were compared between cases and control to determine any significant association with leukemia. Results: Statistically significant associations between risk of childhood leukemia with mother's education (p=0.001), occupation (p=0.0005) and pesticides exposure (p=0.005) during pregnancy were found. However, there were no significant links with maternal age (p=0.090), history of fetal loss (0.85), history of radiography during pregnancy (p=0.400), history of drug intake (p=0.689) and infection (p=0.696) during pregnancy. Conclusions: The results showed increased risk of leukemia in children whose mothers were working in agriculture and were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy. The further study needs to be investigated to know association of various maternal risk factors with leukemia which remained unknown in this study.