Toxic Metals in Baby Food Can Cause Severe Neurological Issues in Young Children, and May Lead to the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Parents who are told that their young children have autism experience a heartache like no other on this earth. Many times, the child has been exposed to harmful toxic metals that are present in baby food, unbeknownst to the parents at the time the baby food is given to the child. Contemporary studies have shown that the amount of toxic and heavy metals found in children’s food can significantly cause severity in the child’s neurological development. These issues can be serious to the child’s developing brain and internal organs and may be linked to the development of autism in the child. If you have had an incident where your child developed autism because of the ingestion of toxic metals in baby foods you purchased, you can call us to review your personal injury claim. If your child has developed autism from eating hazardous chemicals in the baby food you bought at the grocery store, food outlet or store, you can call us at the Law Offices of Gary K. Walch today. We can review your claim for a personal injury with you, and go over the particulars of your case. Get in touch with Walch Law NOW- 866-465-8792

A child who ingests toxic metals at any age is at risk for severe neurological deterioration and brain function issues. But children who are very young are especially susceptible to being affected by the accidental ingestion of toxic metals that can affect their overall brain growth. This is a situation that can occur when there is an accidental ingestion of lead, cadmium, mercury or other toxic metals that may be accidentally exposed to baby food during the manufacture of those baby food products.¹ When it comes to the risk of children exposed to toxic metals in their food, it can affect children who are young to even children and teenagers up to 16 years old in some cases. The way that a child is affected by the ingestion of toxic metals, is that the child’s growth and development will suffer, from the exposure to environmental hazards and hazardous chemicals in the child’s food.

If your baby or toddler is exposed to high levels of toxic metals from the ingestion of baby food products, your child may be at risk of developing neurological issues such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and some forms of autism spectrum disorders from eating these toxins. Heavy metals are various dangerous metals that can find their way into food from environmental sources or from manufacturing processes and are hazardous to human health. These metals can include exposure to:²

• Cadmium
• Cesium
• Cobalt
• Copper
• Lead
• Magnesium
• Selenium
• Zinc
• Arsenic
• Mercury

If a child is exposed to heavy metals in baby food, it can affect the child’s overall growth and development for the rest of the child’s life. The brain development of a child is highly susceptible to toxins. The brain function and growth can be delayed, as well as other issues can affect the child to develop autism spectrum disorders later in life.

Some women who are pregnant and already have a young child at home, will risk their unborn children developing autism from exposure to heavy metals in the baby food. This is because many pregnant women will “taste test” the baby foods that they prepare, before they feed them to their babies. If the baby foods being prepared are laced with heavy metals and the pregnant mothers eat the baby food, then unbeknownst to them they are risking their unborn children will develop autism from exposure to the heavy metals in the baby foods they have purchased.

For example, the prenatal methylmercury exposure of toxins can possibly produce autism in the unborn children after they are born. This is because the ingestion of methylmercury by the pregnant mother will pass the toxins across the placenta and blood-brain barriers to the brain of the developing fetus in her body.² There has been speculation over the years as to the incidents of children who are exposed to heavy metal toxins who develop autism, but there are also studies that show that this can be the case, and that the children are severely affected by heavy metal contaminants in tainted baby food products.

Although there are no “safe” levels that are recommended for anyone to be exposed to heavy metals, an adult can tolerate some exposure to heavy metal toxins because of the size of the adult. But a child’s small body is not able to distribute and release even small exposures to heavy metal contaminants, which stay in the child’s body and can even harm internal organs. Children who develop autism from toxic exposure to heavy metals can have cognitive issues, low intelligence scores, and lowered intellectual abilities over a lifetime because of the exposure to toxic contaminants in early ages.

If a child ingests baby foods that are tainted with heavy metals, the child can be exposed to toxins that can affect the child’s overall growth for life. This means that the child’s development in the infant, baby and toddler stages may be impaired, stunted, delayed or developmentally challenged, to reflect the hallmarks of autism. Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by the child having an abnormal functioning in the areas of social cues and interactions with others, problems with communication (the child may never speak), or the child can exhibit restricted and repetitive behaviors (flapping arms, biting hands). To people outside of the child’s family, children with autism can seem to be living “in their own world,” and many children are unable to ever communicate with others successfully because of extent of their autism disorder.

When people think of autism, they may or may not be able to pinpoint someone who they know who is diagnosed with autism. This is why it is called a spectrum disorder, because each child can have a wide range of symptoms, disabilities and challenges that are related to the disorder. Even children in the same household with autism may exhibit completely different challenges with the spectrum disorder. This can be true even if they are both fed the same baby food as infants and experience the same levels of toxins in their system. The toxins affect each child’s system differently, and it is very difficult for the parents who did the best they could to provide sustenance and nutrition for their children as they grew, not knowing of the hazards that were included in the baby food and formulas laced with heavy metal toxins.

If you have any questions, issues or concerns related to your child developing autism from baby food that you have fed your child, you can call us at the Law Offices of Gary K. Walch. We are here to help you and will review your personal injury case with sensitivity and compassion. Get in touch with Walch Law NOW- 866-465-8792

¹Adams, J. B., Audhya, T., McDonough-Means, S., Rubin, R. A., Quig, D., Geis, E., ... & Lee, W. (2013). Toxicological status of children with autism vs. neurotypical children and the association with autism severity. Biological Trace Element Research, 151, 171-180.

²Skogheim, T. S., Weyde, K. V. F., Engel, S. M., Aase, H., Surén, P., Øie, M. G., Biele, G., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Caspersen, I. H., Hornig, M., Haug, L. S., & Villanger, G. D. (2021). Metal and essential element concentrations during pregnancy and associations with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Environment International, 152, 106468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106468