Maternal occupations may influence ASD likelihood

Maternal exposure to toxins or stress in the workplace may increase the likelihood of a child having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to researchers in Denmark and the United States.

Aisha Dickerson and colleagues analyzed data on 1,702 children with ASD born between 1973 and 2012, matching them with 108,532 non-autistic children. They obtained mothers’ employment histories from the Danish Pension Fund Registry.

The researchers report, “There were increased odds of having a child with ASD for mothers who were employed before [the child’s] conception up to infancy in ground transportation, public administration, and military/defense occupations.” They also detected links between ASD and maternal judicial occupations (policy, court, and penitentiary jobs) and military/defense service, both before conception and during pregnancy. The sex of the children influenced the strength of the associations. The researchers did not find any link between ASD and maternal employment in agriculture, and associations between ASD and maternal employment in air transportation, chemical processing industries, and cleaning services did not reach significance.

The researchers say, “These findings underscore the potential role of maternal occupations held long before conception and transgenerational neurodevelopmental impact. Furthermore, observed sex differences highlight the need for more insight into the potential mechanisms of maternal exposure and ASD in offspring through epigenetics and hormonal dysregulation from stress or endocrine-disrupting chemicals.”

Citations

“Associations between maternal occupational history and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in offspring in Denmark,” Aisha S. Dickerson, Yisi Liu, Christine Ladd-Acosta, Jing Wang, Diana Schendel, Marc G. Weisskopf, M. Danielle Fallin, and Johnni Hansen, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, May 12, 2026 (free online). Address: Aisha S. Dickerson, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, [email protected].

—and—

“One overlooked factor before birth may help explain autism risk in children,” news release, British Medical Journal, May 12, 2026.