Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has revealed the list of ‘toxins’ he says could be driving a ‘tsunami’ of autism across the US.

Mr. Kennedy stated that he would initiate a series of investigations to explore if mold, pesticides, food additives, or medications might be influencing the development of the condition.

Furthermore, he brought up an unexpected fifth potential influencer: ultrasound examinations. He highlighted that this technology became widely used at a similar time to the rise in autism cases during the 1980s.

RFK Jr. continued by hinting that there could be individuals benefiting from the epidemic, indirectly alluding to his doubts about vaccines and his campaign against synthetic food components.

It comes after a Tuesday CDC report suggested the number of US children with autism rose to one in 31 in 2022, up from one in 36 in 2020 and one in 44 in 2018.

By comparison, early studies from the 1960s and 70s estimated autism rates to be as low as 1 in 5,000. Most researchers say the trend can likely be attributed to better screening and awareness — but Kennedy said that only accounts for ’10 to 20 percent’ of cases.

‘Doctors and therapists in the past weren’t stupid. They weren’t missing all these cases,’ RFK Jr told a press conference today.

He also dismissed the idea that autism rates are being fueled by genetic factors, saying, ‘genes do not cause epidemics,’ adding that ‘it [the rise in autism] must be triggered or caused by environmental or risk factors.’

Kennedy told reporters: ‘We need to move away from the ideology that the relentless autism prevalence increase is simply an artifact of better recognition and better diagnostic criteria.

‘The epidemic is real. Only a small percentage can be charged to better recognition or better diagnostic criteria.

‘The answer is very clear and this is catastrophic for our country.’ 

Referencing his earlier promise to deliver answers about the autism ‘epidemic’ in the next several months, RFK Jr said ‘we will have some answers by September’ with a series of studies looking into environmental exposures.

‘There will be an answer for the American people very, very quickly,’ he added.  

The CDC report released earlier this week looked at autism rates in 16 monitoring sites across the US to predict the overall figure for the rest of the nation.

Researchers conducted surveillance for autism among children aged four and eight years and suspected autism among children aged four years. 

Surveillance included children who lived in the area at any time during 2022. 

Children were classified as having autism using a number of measures including if they had ever received a diagnostic statement in a comprehensive developmental evaluation or had autism special education eligibility.

Children aged four years were classified as having suspected autism if they did not meet the case definition for autism but a suspicion of the developmental disorder had been documented in a comprehensive developmental evaluation. 

Along with one in 31 children in 2022 being diagnosed, boys were at an increased risk. 

Overall, one in 20 eight-year-old boys were diagnosed with autism in 2022 but in places like California it was as common as one in 13.  

RFK Jr called the risk for boys ‘extreme.’ 

Kennedy also noted about one in four children are ‘profoundly’ disabled, meaning they are nonverbal and may be completely dependent on others for basic care. 

The secretary said: ‘Autism destroys families and more importantly destroys our greatest resource which is children.’

While researchers in the CDC report said improvements in early identification of autism ‘have been apparent’ in recent years and could explain the rise, RFK Jr estimated as many as 85 percent of cases could instead be linked to environmental exposures. 

He said: ‘We have to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it.

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. 

While in the womb, exposure may raise risk of ASD by 31 percent.

The experts suggested particulate matter breathed in during early childhood or while in the womb may travel through the bloodstream and bypass protective layers in the brain, causing inflammation that hinders nerve development. 

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. 

That team suggested BPA – which lines plastic and metal food packaging, an ever growing pollutant in the modern world – was associated with neurological and behavioral changes associated with autism. 

The US has also seen a surge in the use of synthetic pesticides, which some say could be a contributor, as well. Use of these chemicals increased 50-fold since 1950. 

Some research indicates up to 80 percent of Americans have detectable levels of pesticides in their blood. 

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an emergency suspension of the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) due to evidence suggesting babies exposed to it in the womb could be born underweight and with a decreased IQ and development. 

Dr Walter Zahorodny of Rutgers University in New Jersey, who co-authored the CDC report and joined Kennedy at the press conference, said: ‘There is better recognition because there are more children with autism.

‘It’s not better awareness pushing the increase.’