Hints of a Link Between Autism and Vinyl Flooring

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Hints of a Link Between Autism and Vinyl Flooring

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 31, 2009 @08:55PM from the and-that's-vinyl dept.

SpuriousLogic sends in a link from Scientific American to a study by Swedish and US researchers that reaches the surprising conclusion that there may be a link between autism and vinyl floors. "Children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit chemicals called phthalates, are more likely to have autism, according to research by Swedish and US scientists published Monday. ... The scientists were surprised by their finding, calling it 'far from conclusive.' ... The researchers found four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother's smoking, family economic problems, and condensation on windows, which indicates poor ventilation. Infants or toddlers who lived in bedrooms with vinyl, or PVC, floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later... than those with wood or linoleum flooring. ... Several scientists who did not participate in the study cautioned that it has too many limitations to draw conclusions, but they suggested that new studies be designed to look for a connection between autism and indoor air pollutants."

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Album collection? by G3ckoG33k · 2009-03-31 20:58 · Score: 5, Funny

I have a friend with a large vinyl album collection. Some 5,000 vinyls!
Funny, I always thought he was a bit of an introvert. Now I know why. ;)
1. Re:Album collection? by The+Clockwork+Troll · 2009-03-31 21:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It's actually 4,936 albums. I counted them. Yeah, definitely 4,936 albums. 64 more to be 5,000. 7,352 more to be 12,288. So, 4,936 albums really.
  
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2. Re:Album collection? by Antidamage · 2009-03-31 21:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Jesus. And just thing of the number of babies that buy new cars each year. This is big. This is huge. This could go all the way to the White House.
Re:OMGPONIES by lobiusmoop · 2009-03-31 21:11 · Score: 4, Funny

Besides the article being dated March 31, 2009, joking about autism isn't exactly a barrel of laughs. Apr 1 seems to have turned into some kind of trial of trust of the media now, which pisses me off.

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Re:How long before ... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-03-31 21:15 · Score: 5, Funny

Good point. We should be looking for a common cause, something that causes BOTH autism AND vinyl flooring.
Or possibly that autism causes pre-emtive vinyl flooring
Re:How long before ... by dr_dank · 2009-03-31 22:16 · Score: 2, Funny

They'd better do it soon. Five minutes to Wapner.

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Re:How long before ... by 2.7182 · 2009-03-31 23:15 · Score: 5, Funny

Maybe the latent form of the autism gene causes terrible taste in interior decorating.
Re:Boiling the problem down...Government spending? by arndawg · 2009-04-01 00:56 · Score: 3, Funny

..0.. -1..-2...-3...-4..-5..... I think you're wrong dude.
Re:Why is this funny? by dilvish_the_damned · 2009-04-01 02:02 · Score: 3, Funny

After studying young adults, it has been noted that keggers cause jumps to conclusions later in the study.

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Re:How long before ... by hayesk · 2009-04-01 02:24 · Score: 4, Funny

If my wife reads this study, autism is going to cause brand new ceramic tile in my kitchen.
Re:Why is this funny? by Daetrin · 2009-04-01 03:01 · Score: 2, Funny

Is that with or without a jump to conclusions mat?

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