A new study about wildfire smoke and autism shows that any exposure to wildfire smoke during the third trimester of pregnancy is linked to increased risk of autism in children. The risk of autism in children whose mothers were exposed to wildfire smoke in the third trimester increased by 7-27%. Exposures to more than 10 days of wildfire smoke during pregnancy had the highest risk.
The study also looked at children whose parents did not move during the pregnancy, which was about ¾ of the people in the study. Because their address was the same throughout the time they were pregnant, the estimates of exposure were better. In this group, the risk of autism from smoke exposure in the third trimester was 27%.
There are other studies that have linked air pollution to autism, and this study adds to that. It is clear that air pollution has strong impacts on children’s brains. Burning fossil and other combustion fuels creates both air pollution and climate change. Climate change creates conditions where there are more and stronger wildfires. Reducing our use of fossil and other combustion fuels will have direct reductions in air pollution, and will also reduce climate change. It’s clear that to be healthy, we need clean energy and not polluting fossil fuels.
You can read the study here.
You can read a news story about the study here.
02/11/2026 AKMB
