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Table 4 Adjusted associations between prenatal mercury and offspring diagnosed autism and extreme levels of autistic traits. Odds ratios [95%CI] adjusted for maternal age, family adversity index, prenatal life events, smoking and alcohol in pregnancy, maternal locus of control, and maternal education

From: Prenatal mercury exposure and features of autism: a prospective population study

Proxy for Hg exposurea

Diagnosed autism, OR [95% CI]

Autistic trait, OR [95% CI]

Poor social cognition

Poor sociability

Poor coherence

Repetitive behavior

White fish

1.39 [0.80, 2.40]

0.85 [0.71 ,1.03]

0.93 [0.77, 1.11]

0.90 [0.78, 1.04]

1.01 [0.88, 1.16]

 

(P = 0.238)

(P = 0.092)

(P = 0.399)

(P = 0.163)

(P = 0.886)

Oily fish

1.00 [0.68, 1.47]

0.98 [0.84, 1.14]

0.90 [0.78, 1.04]

1.01 [0.90, 1.14]

1.03 [0.92, 1.15]

 

(P = 0.994)

(P = 0.774)

(P = 0.150)

(P = 0.853)

(P = 0.613)

Shellfish

0.86 [0.54, 1.38]

0.92 [0.77, 1.11]

0.91 [0.76, 1.08]

0.94 [0.81, 1.08]

1.03 [0.90, 1.17]

 

(P = 0.542)

(P = 0.401)

(P = 0.284)

(P = 0.351)

(P = 0.707)

Amalgam inserted

0.62 [0.37, 1.03]

0.99 [0.83, 1.18]

1.14 [0.97, 1.34]

1.07 [0.94, 1.22]

1.02 [0.90, 1.16]

 

(P = 0.067)

(P = 0.905)

(P = 0.119)

(P = 0.320)

(P = 0.761)

Amalgam extracted

0.47 [0.24, 0.93]

1.09 [0.89, 1.33]

1.14 [0.94, 1.38]

1.10 [0.94, 1.28]

1.04 [0.89, 1.20]

 

(P = 0.031)

(P = 0.424)

(P = 0.178)

(P = 0.237)

(P = 0.647)

No. of amalgam fillings

0.96 [0.76, 1.21]

1.00 [0.91, 1.09]

0.91 [0.84, 0.99]

1.01 [0.94, 1.09]

0.95 [0.89, 1.01]

 

(P = 0.730)

(P = 0.965)

(P = 0.033)

(P = 0.790)

(P = 0.122)

No. in analyses

7498–10,452

5888–6972

7119–8512

5646–6690

6302–7477

  1. All associations with P < 0.10 are italicized
  2. aCategorization of variables as shown in Table 3. Significance levels calculated testing for a linear trend