WASHINGTON -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that he plans to commission a series of studies to identify environmental contributors to autism he claims are linked to its rising prevalence in the country.
Speaking at his first press conference since becoming secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy said the studies will look at mold, air, water, food, medicine, ultrasounds, and parental risk factors like age, obesity, and diabetes.
Kennedy was speaking a day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a data analysis showing the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the U.S. among 8-year-olds in 2022 had risen to 1 in every 31. The data was published in the CDC’s weekly report.
The causes of autism are unclear, although experts say it likely results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Many experts largely attribute the autism rate increase to widespread screening and including a wider range of behaviors to define the condition.
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has long promoted a debunked link between vaccines and autism.
Last week, he set a September deadline for the U.S. National Institutes of Health to determine the cause behind the rise in U.S. autism rates, but said on Wednesday that “some of the answers” would be available by then.
The government’s plans for studies include looking at the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism, Reuters has previously reported. Previous scientific studies have found no link between vaccines and autism.
Kennedy also said he would move monitoring of autism rates to the newly created Administration for a Healthy America, which he oversees directly, from the CDC, which has in the past enjoyed a level of independence from its parent agency HHS.
Kennedy described the increase in autism as an epidemic, which patient advocates and scientists disputed.
The Autism Society, a patient advocacy group, says the rising rates are not an epidemic but reflect diagnostic progress and a need for more access to screenings at an earlier age.
Researchers are currently examining how environmental factors might work independently and in conjunction with genes to cause autism, the Autism Science Foundation said in a statement.
For instance, last week a study added to evidence that diabetes during pregnancy is linked with an increased risk of brain and nervous system problems in children, including autism.
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