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Autism Vox

Toxic Mom

by Kristina Chew, PhD on January 20th, 2008

Once “refrigerator mothers” were blamed for causing a child to become autistic—-now are “toxic mothers” (who’ve been using too much bismuth-containing lipstick and face make-up) the culprits?

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Kassiane
Jan 20, 2008 at 9:24 pm

*coughs* So, am I the only one who sees the family of ducks around that guy? The hysteriawareness has really brought the nutters out of the woodwork…
Marita
Jan 20, 2008 at 10:00 pm

So the two times I wore make up, once at my high school formal dance and once for my wedding is what caused my daughters autism. Yep, right. Guy is a nutjob.
Emily
Jan 20, 2008 at 10:03 pm

No toxic mom here. Because of my research (endocrine-disrupting compounds), I didn’t even paint my nails when I was pregnant. Actually, I’ve never really done that, anyway, and I never have worn makeup on a regular basis…maybe once or twice a year, at most. I also have never taken meds with bismuth in them, not even Peptobismol. No hair dyes. No powders. No products with known endocrine disruptors in them. I’m sure, however, that I’m chock full of PBDEs through no fault of my own, and my money is on that as an environmental effector in autism, if there is one to pin down. Look when we started using them and when rates “started to rise”–if they, indeed, did.
Samantha Pierce
Jan 20, 2008 at 10:38 pm

What are PBDEs?
Emily
Jan 20, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, otherwise known as flame retardants. Women are basically stuffed with the things.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 20, 2008 at 11:29 pm

Never painted a nail here……
brstpathdoc
Jan 20, 2008 at 11:31 pm

Bollocks.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 20, 2008 at 11:41 pm

@brstpathdoc, great to hear from you! hope things have been well!.
MomtoJBG
Jan 20, 2008 at 11:48 pm

I may be filled with toxins for one reason or another, but I can tell you it’s not from make-up!
Karen
Jan 21, 2008 at 12:39 am

What a quack.

Also, “…just imagine if you and your wife had an autistic child how much it is going to impinge on your life…”

Something about that just really rubs me the wrong way.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 21, 2008 at 1:08 am

Especially the “it” in that sentence!
Regan
Jan 21, 2008 at 1:11 am

The first thing I thought of when I saw the word “bismuth” was Pepto Bismol, since no makeup or nail polish ever touched me until well after Eleanor was born…but then we don’t buy Pepto Bismol, so it seems at least unlikely.
If I were looking for an environmental input I think Emily’s explanation makes more sense than blaming Cover Girl.
Cliff
Jan 21, 2008 at 3:23 am

The more potent question, it seems, will become “What hasn’t been linked to autism?”, rather than “What has been linked to autism?”, given enough time and hysteria. It’d be amusing if it wasn’t sick.

Cliff
Casdok
Jan 21, 2008 at 4:49 am

No toxic mum here either!
Yes what hasnt been linked to autism!
And what will be next!
Ms. Clark
Jan 21, 2008 at 4:54 am

Yes, but if there’s no bismuth in vaccines then it’s not the bismuth… :-/ I saw this article linked to by a biomed mom on the Autism Speaks board. I thought, “geelong advertiser”??? The mom had put the link with no explanation to what it was in the “science” folder. I thought… “geelong advertiser”??? If it was JAMA maybe I’d click on it, but I ain’t clicking on a link to geelong advertiser. Later I got it emailed to me by someone else and found that I was right, it was more “geelong advertiser” worthy than it was anything like science.
Kathy
Jan 21, 2008 at 6:48 am

Hmm….
Gotta say, yes… I am guilty.. Been using lipstick for many a year now…

More so now.. Well, a girl needs all the help she can get when she get’s to my age!

No! I ain’t tellin’ how old I am.

The fact that my dear now deceased brother-in-law was likely Autistic,
and my son Mark, named after his Uncle shares many of his traits, had nothing to do with it!!
Oh, my brother-in-law never wore makeup. Neither did his mum(my mother-in-law)

More crap.. Only this time from Oz!
Mrs. C
Jan 21, 2008 at 9:12 am

OK, so how does everyone explain the druggies who have “normal” kids all the time???

It would be interesting to get a big, big study together of parents of autistics and parents of NT kids. Then ask them what kind of toothpaste they like, how they clean house, their favourite subject in school… just maybe 250 pages of random stuff. Then we’ll find out that perhaps a penchant for daisies more than roses “causes” autism LOL!

I’m guessing you’ve heard of the link between autism and allergies, but my allergist doesn’t buy that either. He says you can have allergies that aggravate your autism symptoms, though.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 21, 2008 at 9:50 am

Who knows but it was the Chinese herbs my grandmother put in the soup…….
Emily
Jan 21, 2008 at 10:19 am

My children don’t (yet) have allergies, and neither do we (yet), thank goodness.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 21, 2008 at 10:54 am

My husband has long had them and I developed them from living in St. Louis—–they’ve gotten better for both of us now. Can’t tell with Charlie.
TomsMom
Jan 21, 2008 at 11:05 am

Nothing EVER changes: somehow, someway, it’s always Mom’s fault : - )
Could we please please please have a real bunch of real scientists do some real research?
Autismville
Jan 21, 2008 at 12:13 pm

I’m calling my lawyer. Bobbi Brown lawsuit here we come.

Any mention of … ahem… silicone?
Bink
Jan 21, 2008 at 12:24 pm

In a strange way I admire the guy. He’s taking what he has learned about how to make money and is moving in a new direction with it. He knows that he can run faked-up “lab tests” that show “toxins” and that a certain percentage of naive people will pay him to “remove” them. I guess now that the jig is up with the chelation scam (isn’t it? or is Jim Adams going to publish his results on Dateline soon? They were supposed to be broadcast in December of 2006) he is casting about for a way to continue to scare people into giving him money. And hey, just imagine the “success stories” he can put on his website about how he prevented autism. I bet he might have a success rate as high as 149 out of 150!

Caveat Emptor, people.
Marla
Jan 21, 2008 at 1:40 pm

This is one example of how genetic testing may help stop people like this claiming such silly causes.
Misha
Jan 21, 2008 at 1:41 pm

Wow, some of things people come up with to link to autism. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Becca
Jan 21, 2008 at 4:06 pm

I’m keeping a list of the things that cause autism - I’ll be adding lipstick and Pepto-Bismol. The irritating thing about these is that they’re claimed to be THE cause — not an environmental trigger (or one of the many) that might interact with genetics to produce autism. No, it’s TUNA FISH, or it’s LIPSTICK. Now, c’mon! If it were lipstick, wouldn’t we see a lot more kids with autism? If it were Diet Coke? Hell, THAT would be an epidemic! (…and why would there be so many more boys susceptible to Cover Girl toxicity? or aspartame? etc. — in other words, a little common sense breaks these down to the level of eye-rolling, can-you-believe-it stupidity almost immediately) (but they’re still rather amusing, in their way)
More on Autism Genetics and Genetic Testing
Jan 21, 2008 at 4:37 pm

[…] of the continued, seemingly constant, search to find some “cause” for autism, from lipstick traces to “something in the environment” (I am sure that someone will next identify global […]
brstpathdoc
Jan 21, 2008 at 10:58 pm

***@brstpathdoc, great to hear from you! hope things have been well!.**

Ave, mi magistra…..well, indeed. I’ve been consistently lurking in silence, reading and admiring your dulcet prose and keen insights. Mirabile lectu…..
Emily
Jan 22, 2008 at 9:36 pm

Latin is just beautiful.
Bonnie Sayers
May 11, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Another interesting read. I like Mrs. C idea.