RFK Jr. says government to launch new studies on link between toxins, autism amid pushback
WASHINGTON- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is doubling down on his view that toxins in the environment contribute to autism with a series of new studies to investigate the issue as scientists continue to push back on his claims.
Speaking on April 16 at his first press conference since joining President Donald Trump's Cabinet, Kennedy also pushed back against criticism for describing an uptick in the neuro-developmental disorder among American children as as "epidemic."
"We're gonna announce a series of new studies to identify precisely what the environmental toxins are that are causing it," he said. "This has not been done before."
More: Autism rates increased, again. But RFK Jr. diverges from CDC report about the reason.
Kennedy added that the results of the "thorough and comprehensive" study will be available to the "American people very, very quickly."
"This is coming from an environmental toxin and somebody made it and put that environmental toxin into our air or water or medicines or food," Kennedy said during the press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services' headquarters in Washington, D.C. "And it's to their benefit to say, oh, to normalize it, to say, 'oh, this is all normal'."
Researchers have been looking into the causes of autism for decades; the Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention says that some people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a genetic condition, but other causes are not yet known. The CDC also says many studies have looked at whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism and "to date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with autism."
In an April 15 report, the CDC found that in 2022, one in 31 children were diagnosed with autism by age 8 in the U.S., an uptick from one in 36 children in 2020. The prevalence of autism among boys was one in 20 and the 2022 rate is five times higher than it was in 2000.
While Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has linked vaccines to autism, has characterized the increase in autism rates as an 'epidemic running rampant,' the CDC researchers in the report have attributed it to 'increased identification' among very young children and previously under-identified groups.
Kennedy recently set a September deadline for the U.S. National Institutes of Health to determine the cause behind the rise in autism rates. His announcement has been met with mixed reactions within the autism community, with some welcoming Kennedy's rhetoric and commitment to focusing on the disorder.
The prevalence of the condition among 8-year-olds was higher among Asian/Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic children than among white children, CDC data showed.
More: RFK Jr. says the government will know what caused the 'autism epidemic' by September
Autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed based on challenges with social skills, communication and repetitive behaviors. It is a spectrum, meaning symptoms vary widely, with a percentage unable to communicate at all and others highly successful in some areas of life.
The data does not signal an 'epidemic' but instead reflects diagnostic progress, said Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America.
"Claiming that autism is 'preventable' is not science-based, and places unnecessary blame on people, parents and families," Banks said. 'It is not an epidemic, nor should it be compared to the COVID-19 pandemic, and using language like that perpetuates falsehoods, stigma and stereotypes."
Kennedy said during the April 16 press conference there are many studies in the "scientific literature that absolutely explode this mythology that this autism epidemic is not real."
"It is absolutely indefensible to continue to promote this," he said.
The 2022 study was conducted across 16 sites in 14 states and Puerto Rico and surveyed children aged 8 years born in 2014.
Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez, Alyssa Goldberg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. launches studies on toxins, autism link amid science pushback
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