Table 5:
Univariate Toxic Elements Analysis of the Child Cohorts
| Element | Univariate Test | ASD mean in μg/mL | TD mean in μg/mL | ASD SD | TD SD | % TD Below Detection limit | % ASD Below Detection limit | Ratio ASD/TD | P-value | AUROC | False Discovery Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Mann-Whitney | 1.47E+01 | 1.66E+01 | 1.58E+01 | 1.38E+01 | 0 | 0 | 8.83E-01 | 0.39 | 0.58 | |
| Antimony | Mann-Whitney | 1.12E-01 | 1.30E-01 | 1.62E-01 | 1.87E-01 | 42.3 | 52.3 | 8.67E-01 | 0.47 | 0.56 | |
| Arsenic | Mann-Whitney | 1.71E+01 | 1.64E+01 | 2.48E+01 | 1.01E+01 | 3.84 | 9.52 | 1.04 | 0.27 | 0.59 | |
| Barium | Mann-Whitney | 4.38 | 4.07 | 3.31 | 2.68 | 0 | 0 | 1.08 | 0.67 | 0.54 | |
| Beryllium | Mann-Whitney | 3.79E-04 | 3.74E-04 | 1.16E-04 | 1.04E-04 | 100 | 90.5 | 1.01 | 0.94 | 0.50 | |
| Bismuth | Mann-Whitney | 1.43E-02 | 4.62E-02 | 4.78E-02 | 1.42E-01 | 88.4 | 81.0 | 0.31 | 0.87 | 0.51 | |
| Cadmium | Mann-Whitney | 2.86E-02 | 1.93E-02 | 6.43E-02 | 6.94E-02 | 92.3 | 77.3 | 1.48 | 0.39 | 0.56 | |
| Cesium | Unequal Variance t-test | 7.96 | 7.42 | 3.93 | 3.57 | 0 | 0 | 1.07 | 0.63 | 0.53 | |
| Gadolinium*** | Mann-Whitney | 5.07E-5*** | 5.24E-5 | 1.26 E-5*** | 1.46E-5 | 100 | 95.0*** | 0.97*** | 0.95*** | 0.51 | |
| Lead | Mann-Whitney | 6.05E-01 | 6.31E-01 | 5.73E-01 | 4.17E-01 | 0 | 0 | 9.59E-01 | 0.50 | 0.56 | |
| Mercury | Mann-Whitney | 1.24E-01 | 2.24E-04 | 2.84E-01 | 6.24E-05 | 100 | 77.3 | 5.53E+02 | 3.4E-02 | 0.63 | 0.68 |
| Nickel | Equal Variance t-test | 5.44 | 5.54 | 3.39 | 2.43 | 0 | 0 | 0.98 | 0.90 | 0.55 | |
| Palladium | Mann-Whitney | 4.55E-04 | 4.49E-04 | 1.39E-04 | 1.25E-04 | 100 | 100 | 1.01 | 0.94 | 0.50 | |
| Platinum | Mann-Whitney | 6.06E-05 | 5.98E-05 | 1.85E-05 | 1.66E-05 | 100 | 100 | 1.01 | 0.94 | 0.50 | |
| Tellurium | Mann-Whitney | 3.03E-04 | 2.99E-04 | 9.26E-05 | 8.32E-05 | 100 | 100 | 1.01 | 0.94 | 0.50 | |
| Thallium | Unequal Variance t-test | 2.99E-01 | 2.38E-01 | 1.54E-01 | 1.50E-01 | 3.84 | 0 | 1.25 | 0.18 | 0.63 | |
| Thorium | Mann-Whitney | 2.27E-05 | 2.24E-05 | 6.94E-06 | 6.24E-06 | 100 | 100 | 1.01 | 0.94 | 0.50 | |
| Tin | Mann-Whitney | 1.53 | 3.00 | 1.93 | 2.34 | 0 | 0 | 5.10E-01 | 3.2E-03 | 0.75 | 0 |
| Tungsten | Mann-Whitney | 2.57E-01 | 4.12E-01 | 2.51E-01 | 4.17E-01 | 3.84 | 0 | 6.25E-01 | 3.1E-02 | 0.68 | 0.30 |
| Uranium | Mann-Whitney | 1.81E-02 | 1.47E-02 | 4.97E-02 | 6.03E-02 | 92.3 | 85.7 | 1.24 | 0.56 | 0.54 |
The FDR is only computed for the three elements with p < 0.05. Only one of the elements (tin) was found to be statistically significant between the ASD and TD child cohorts. The FDR is only computed for the three elements with p < 0.05. Only one of the elements (tin) was found to be statistically significant between the ASD and TD child cohorts.
One of the children with ASD had an unusually high level of gadolinium, due to gadolinium being used as a contrast agent for their MRI a few weeks prior. However, the values for the gadolinium concentration for this one child have been removed while their values for all other toxic elements are still included. That being said, inclusion or exclusion of the data from this child does not change the result that tin is the only toxic element out of the 20 tested with statistically significant differences between the groups.