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2w ago

RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’

www.theguardian.com

US health secretary bucks expert opinion as research shows rise in diagnoses due to better tools and screening

The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said in his first press conference that the significant and recent rise in autism diagnoses was evidence of an “epidemic” caused by an “environmental toxin”, which would be rooted out by September.

Autism advocates and health experts have repeatedly stated the rise in diagnoses is related to better recognition of the condition, changing diagnostic criteria and better access to screening. Many also reject the label of an “epidemic”, arguing that neurodivergence should be valued.

…

RFK disagreed with the consensus of health researchers, and said that “we need to move away” from the idea that the increase in autism prevalence “is simply due to better diagnostic tools”.

31 comments

Bullshit, but let's say it wasn't... he works for the party that will not ban any toxin he finds to be bad, so why does it matter? You gutted every department that may have been able to ban anything. If anything, you're the reason these chemicals still exist in the first place.
- Yeah like we have decades upon decades of proof that PFAS is incredibly toxic to all forms of life and yet companies are still fucking dumping it into streams and rivers. Why the hell not start with something that is a problem? Well it’s because it’s a boogeyman that he can say democrats are hiding the details about autism and even though no link will ever be found he can keep that gravy train rolling.

So condemn your boss for trying to gut the EPA

Autism is DIRECTLY Related to Environmental Toxins? Then WHY are Republicans ALLOWING Wealthy Corporations to MAKE our Environment Toxic? UNLESS RFK JR is Giving Us in the Know a Wink and a Nod that I don't Understand until Fox News TELLS me What it means! I DO my OWN Research!

...an “epidemic” caused by an “environmental toxin”, which would be rooted out by September.
Oh boy, I can't wait for September to see what they're going to blame.
- Plastics but I would love if it was carbon emissions.
  
  Plastics, lol. It's definitely gonna be vaccines. They have practically said as much in interviews. That's why they know when the "search for a cause" is going to end, they already have one in mind, and it's the same one RFK Jr. has always pushed.
  
  From https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/rfk-jr-reveals-five-toxins-that-could-be-causing-autism-epidemic/ar-AA1D34Ya
  Kennedy said he would commission a series of studies into whether mold, pesticides, food chemicals or medicines are contributing to the development of the condition. He also suggested a surprising fifth possible factor: ultrasound scans. He noted the technology became widely available around the same time autism started spiking in the 1980s.
  All bullshit probably, but from that same article:
  Research from Harvard, for example, found exposure to air pollution like particulate matter in early childhood may raise the risk of autism by as much as 64 percent.
  An Australian study published earlier this year also found boys exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) in the womb were six times more likely to be diagnosed with autism before age 11 than those without exposure.
  If after that he ignores plastics and CO2 then we know he's being paid off.

So let’s give this asshole the benefit of doubt for a moment and see where this goes.
Let’s say an environmental toxin is found to be linked to autism. Great, what’s next? Will the EPA be allowed to regulate the industries that produce or use it? Will other agencies be allowed to make policy banning its use? Will there be fines and punishment for those who knowingly introduced these chemicals into the world? No? Great! We now know what causes autism but we’re powerless to stop it.
Thought experiment concluded.
RFK Jr. is the kind of person who starts off saying something reasonable like we need to focus on the foods and chemicals we allow into our bodies and then, surprise non sequitur, drinking water from the sewer is guaranteed to increase your body’s natural immunity to dysentery.

It's going to be marijuana or something else they want to go after, related to the next group they want to try to marginalize.
- I'm expecting him to say that autistic people need to go to a camp
  
  To help them concentrate?

Usually one corrects another by pointing out a verifiable fact. I don't see any reference to RFK using facts in this article.

20$ says. The toxin is gona be nuclear energy. And the cure is coal.

Will someone please put a sock in this fucking grifter.

Who needs evidence when you can just make shit up and have Fox News declare that it's reality?

RFK disagreed with the consensus of health researchers, and said that “we need to move away” from the idea that the increase in autism prevalence “is simply due to better diagnostic tools”.
When the ones using those tools are telling you that it is because of the tools, trust them. This is the same moronic take Trump had about Covid testing. "Stop testing and the numbers will go down", as if that also means that actual number of cases goes down. Better diagnostic tools will almost necessarily lead to more positive diagnoses because... they are better at diagnosing. What a fucking novel concept you brain worm eaten fool. People diagnosed with autism were autistic before the diagnosis too, they just weren't counted in the statistics because they weren't diagnosed. If you don't get that, then you sure as shit shouldn't be in charge of ANYONE'S medical information or decisions.

Well as an environmental lawyer and not a medical doctor, I hope he goes out and sorts that toxin problem from the environment. While he’s at it he could get rid of the high fructose and processed foods he’s been banging on about for years right? Right?!

At least this would be positive if it were to result in less use of plastics and cars to lower environmental pollution (just pointing at silver linings) but we're talking JFK here so I'm sure the recommendation will be to bring lead back into gasoline because when cars had lead gasoline we didn't have autism at all!

Even if this was true (it isn't, as this is once again ridiculous), the "environmental toxins" and the current parasites in the US will do their work anyway.

So he wants to clean up the environment? I, for sure, am not going to correct him.
- He doesn't want to clean anything up. He just wants to blame some scapegoats.

Yeah doesn’t he invest his money in bullshit “cures” and supplements and whatnot

his worms steering clear of talking about processing raw animal carcasses harboring parasites.

The brain worms should have finished the job.
- Nurgle blessed him with perseverance as with all his cultist.

You could easily be led to think so, skimming articles like
"Does Lead Have a Connection to Autism? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10536388/
This meta-analysis showed significantly higher Pb levels in all three types of biological material in cases than in controls, suggesting a higher body Pb burden in autistic children. Thus, environmental Pb exposure could be related to the genesis of autism.

Someone should force him to be tested, because I would bet real money that he would register on the autistic scale.

On first glance this guy has a whole lot of ideas that sound unhinged.
What do his supporters think? That we can trust what we can't test more than what we can?

31 comments