Mark Blaxill on autism and Brick Township, NJ.

[Brainstormy]

2. Personally I don't think so

I do believe there may be a genetic trigger, but the rise in autism spectrum disorders is so outsize as to be incredible. It's got to be environmental. I'm going to catch up on the mercury thing, but I'm doing food research, and finding SO much science suggesting gestational exposure to pesticides.

In California’s rich Central Valley agricultural region, a 600% increased incidence in autism was observed among children up to 5 years of age for births from 1990 to 2001, yet only one-third of the rise could be explained by identified factors such as changing diagnostic criteria for autism or a younger age at diagnosis.

600%!!! Nothing but an environmental factor can account for that. And populations, like the Amish, who do vaccinate but don't employ pesticides or typically plant pesticide-containing GMO crops have rates of like 1 in 10,000.