Table 3.
A summary of the correlation1 between hair toxic metals concentrations and ASD severity2.
| Hair Metal Type | Rho | Rho 95% Confidence Interval | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic (As) | −0.13 | −0.56 to 0.36 | 0.62 |
| Lead (Pb) | −0.31 | −0.68 to 0.18 | 0.21 |
| Mercury (Hg) | 0.58 | 0.15 to 0.82 | 0.013 3 |
| Cadmium (Cd) | −0.33 | −0.69 to 0.16 | 0.18 |
| Chromium (Cr) | 0.30 | −0.19 to 0.67 | 0.22 |
| Cobalt (Co) | −0.34 | −0.69 to 0.15 | 0.17 |
| Nickel (Ni) | −0.10 | −0.54 to 0.39 | 0.70 |
| Manganese (Mn) | −0.11 | −0.55 to 0.37 | 0.65 |
| Aluminum (Al) | 0.08 | −0.40 to 0.53 | 0.75 |
| Tin (Sn) | −0.14 | −0.57 to 0.35 | 0.59 |
| Uranium (U) | 0.23 | −0.27 to 0.63 | 0.36 |
1 The Spearman’s rank correlation test statistic was utilized; 2 ASD severity was measured using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score; 3 Eliminating the anomalous highest hair Hg data point (CARS score = 43, hair mercury level = 4.4 µg of Hg per g of hair) from the sample set examined still revealed a significant correlation (Rho = 0.57, Rho 95% confidence interval = 0.12 to 0.82, p = 0.018) between hair Hg concentrations and ASD severity.