Hair Toxic and Essential Trace Elements in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    August 2016 in “ Metabolic brain disease ”
    Anatoly V. Skalny, Simashkova Nv, T. P. Klyushnik, Andrei R. Grabeklis, Geir Bjørklund, Margarita G. Skalnaya, Alexandr А. Nikonorov, Alexey A. Tinkov
    TLDR Children with autism have lower levels of essential and toxic trace elements in their hair.
    The study investigated hair trace elements in 74 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to 74 sex- and age-matched controls. It was found that ASD children had significantly lower levels of chromium, iodine, vanadium, beryllium, and tin in their hair, while selenium levels were higher. Younger ASD children (2-4 years) showed even greater deficiencies in chromium, iodine, vanadium, arsenic, boron, and beryllium. Older ASD children (5-9 years) had increased selenium levels and a nearly significant decrease in lead. No significant differences were found in mercury, zinc, and copper levels. The study concluded that children with ASD generally had lower levels of both essential and toxic trace elements in their hair.
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