Researchers at U.C. Davis are trying to connect the dots leading to 10 autism clusters in California. One theory is that those parents are using certain hazardous household products, exposing their kids to dangers linked to the neuro-developmental disorder that usually surfaces by the time a child turns three.

According to the Contra Costa Times and other news sources reporting the findings, the study authors don’t attribute the cases to a toxic waste plant or other widespread polluter, but rather to household items like cleaners or landscaping products.

The report released by the University this week says the clusters show autism rates nearly twice the amount of ones in surrounding areas, including three in the Bay Area: Parts of Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmong; Parts of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale; Western San Francisco. No clusters were found in the East Bay.

Other clusters are in Southern California and the Central Valley. And one San Diego cluster was found to have rates of 61.2 per 10,000 births, compared with 27.1 per 10,000 births in the surrounding region. The researchers said the study is the first one looking at the geography of autism births in the state to learn of local sections of elevated environmental risk.

In producing the study, which was published online in the journal Autism Research, the scientists looked at nearly all of the 2.5 million births recorded in California from 1996 to 2000. The report says some 10,000 children born during that period were later diagnosed with autism.

The scientists who conducted the study are now conducting two additional studies examining the environmental causes of autism, and plan to collect dust samples from the homes of 1,300 families to see if common chemicals are the culprits.

Main Image: Mercury News

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Teaching the nation’s future fabric designers not to use flame retardants and harsh dyes is one thing. Teaming up with a leading manufacturer who is going the green route is another.

These are the lessons being learned at the California School of Professional Fabric Design in Berkeley, California, founded 35 years ago by Zeida Rothman (above), who has designed printed fabrics for clients like Wamsutta Sheets, Fieldcrest Cannon, Burlington Industries and Schumacher.

Students study hybrid designing – mastering the art of hand-painting fabric with water-based paints along with learning to produce their own computer-generated patterns. They work in the classroom one day a week at the school which features two floors and an impressive gallery. The rest of the time, they work at home to earn their degrees.

They also are trained in how to assemble a portfolio and interview for a job. Through their own skills and Rothman’s contacts, many end up in the textile and surface pattern design industries making prints for Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Hallmark and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

One of those students, my friend Miriam Lipton, enrolled in the program specifically to produce green decor textiles. But for her, and others headed in the organic direction, Rothman sees the challenges along the way.

“There’s a strong interest among the students and there’s a reality of what exists,” founder Rothman tells me. “When they graduate and go out on their own some encounter organic companies but the majority don’t. It’s slowly creeping into the textile industry so that people can make a choice.”

Meantime, educating the consumer is key, according to Rothman, who says she tells her young mother students to be more selective in what they are buying for infants and kids by looking at the labels. “We educate them on what is there and what not to do and that they have the choice to go organic.”

But for the budding textile designer, the choices aren’t so great. “The organic approach is mostly going into bedding and apparel,” Rothman observes, adding that a former student has created a successful organic linen company, Harmony Art, in northern California. But she points out the majority of the manufacturing is actually being done abroad, mostly in China, where the lovely florals and ikats created by her students are printed onto chemically-treated fabric by the large manufacturing industry.

Still, with determined eco-conscious students like Miriam, perhaps more fabric houses can be established here at home, a return to the old school of fabric making on a smaller scale. The good news is that these designers are highly employable once they graduate.

“People are so happy to be paid to be creative. In fact, most students are here because they want a new career,” says Rothman. “Even if they have no art background, they share of love of textiles and really want to explore that love.”

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