By Amanda Woerner, Fox News.com, February 15, 2014

The number of industrial chemicals with known links to neurodevelopmental disabilities like autism has more than doubled in the past seven years, according to new research published in The Lancet Neurology.

As rates of autism and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increase worldwide, researchers believe widespread exposure to these chemicals among children may be contributing to a “silent epidemic†of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Based on an analysis of previous studies, researchers added six new toxins to a list of chemicals believed to pose a threat to the brains of fetuses and young children: manganese, fluoride, chlorpyrifos, dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), tetrachloroethylene, and the polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

While chemicals like manganese and fluoride, common in drinking water, are rarely found in high enough concentrations in the U.S. to pose a health threat, other chemicals on the list are much more pervasive. More details

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