US health chief Kennedy targets ‘environmental toxins’ as cause of autism

WASHINGTON — Environmental contributors to autism are behind its rising prevalence, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday without scientific evidence, adding he plans to look at everything from mold to medicine to identify them.

Kennedy repeatedly contradicted both developing and established science on autism in his first press conference since becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services.

He brought forth his previously disputed description of autism as an epidemic, said it was preventable, and suggested it must be caused by an “environmental toxin” in part because he did not know any people with autism his age.

“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics,” he said, without providing evidence, at an auditorium packed with reporters and supporters of his “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has long promoted a debunked link between vaccines and autism.

He stopped short of mentioning vaccines on Wednesday, referring to “medicines” in a list of things he said he would commission a series of studies to look at, such as mold, air, water, food, and others, without providing evidence for their inclusion.

The government’s plans for studies include looking at the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism, Reuters has previously reported. Previous scientific studies have found no link between vaccines and autism.

The causes of autism are unclear, although experts say it likely results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Many experts largely attribute the autism rate increase to widespread screening and the inclusion of a wider range of behaviors to define the condition.