Ajit Karn
According to scientists, an essential molecular pathway involved in neurodevelopment and autism may be affected by higher levels of lithium in tap water consumed by expectant women, thereby increasing the likelihood that their children will develop autism spectrum disorder.
Future human activities, such as the increasing use of lithium batteries and their disposal in landfills, could contaminate groundwater, they said, which could increase lithium levels in water.
The scientists from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Health, United States, also stated that the results of their study, which were based on Danish data, must be replicated in other populations and regions of the globe.
Their findings have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics).
Beate Ritz, a professor of neurology at UCLA Health and the principal author of the study, stated, “Any contaminants in drinking water that may have an effect on the developing human brain warrant intense scrutiny.”
Due to lithium’s mood-stabilizing properties, lithium compounds have been used to treat depression and bipolar disorders for decades.
However, the safety of lithium consumption by expectant women is contested in light of mounting evidence linking it to an increased risk of miscarriage and cardiac anomalies or birth defects in neonates.
Ritz discovered experimental evidence that lithium, one of the many naturally occurring metals frequently found in water, could affect a crucial molecular pathway implicated in neurodevelopment and autism.
According to scientists, an essential molecular pathway involved in neurodevelopment and autism may be affected by higher levels of lithium in tap water consumed by expectant women, thereby increasing the likelihood that their children will develop autism spectrum disorder.
Future human activities, such as the increasing use of lithium batteries and their disposal in landfills, could contaminate groundwater, they said, which could increase lithium levels in water.
The scientists from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Health, United States, also stated that the results of their study, which were based on Danish data, must be replicated in other populations and regions of the globe.
Their findings have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics).
Beate Ritz, a professor of neurology at UCLA Health and the principal author of the study, stated, “Any contaminants in drinking water that may have an effect on the developing human brain warrant intense scrutiny.”
Due to lithium’s mood-stabilizing properties, lithium compounds have been used to treat depression and bipolar disorders for decades.
Also read: Richard Branson’s Firm Virgin Orbit Files For Bankruptcy
However, the safety of lithium consumption by expectant women is contested in light of mounting evidence linking it to an increased risk of miscarriage and cardiac anomalies or birth defects in neonates.
Ritz discovered experimental evidence that lithium, one of the many naturally occurring metals frequently found in water, could affect a crucial molecular pathway implicated in neurodevelopment and autism.
