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The incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has risen dramatically in the past 2 decades; the rise has been attributed in part to more detection and to diagnosis of milder cases. However, environmental causes such as air pollution have also been considered. To examine this possible link, researchers studied a large cohort of children born in metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia, from 2004 through 2009. Prenatal air pollution exposure was determined using the province's air quality monitoring program, which obtains high-resolution data on air pollution by postal code. Mother and child medical records were linked to the province's ASD assessment network, which uses gold-standard tests (e.g., the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised and…