"Clean room" method tries to treat children with autism

From WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, Pa.:

PITTSBURGH -- A controversial method is being used in Pittsburgh to study children who live with autism. The method involves having the children spend hours inside a so-called "clean room."

Nationwide, there is one child in every 100 with autism. In Allegheny County, there seems to be a cluster of cases as the county has the highest rate of autism in the state.

Researchers hope to determine whether the local environment is playing a role in the problem. Starting in a few weeks, children and their parents will stay in the new room so researchers can see what happens to them.

Malissa Guerrero's daughter, Mckenzie, is 7 and energetic and has autism. Guerrero said she tried many different things to help, but nothing has worked.

"I would try anything at least once to try to help her because something has to break her -- something," said Guerrero.

She hopes "something" is the new clean room. A swoosh of air blows away dust and prevents bad air from coming inside the room, which is free of toxins, pollution or allergens.

"It's the first of its kind ever for an autistic child," said Skip Kingston, an analytical chemistry professor at Duquesne University.

Researchers want to know if this pure environment will impact children with autism.

The special ceiling tiles are all sealed, as are the outlets and window.

All the air runs through a HEPA air filter, which cuts the particles in the air down from billions per cubic meter to less than 100.

The walls are plastic and painted with a special tinted glue. The bathroom keeps away all molds and bacteria and the water is filtered.

Some doctors disagree, but Dr. Scott Faber of the Children's Institute is convinced autism is caused by a combination of genetics and the environment.

"Sometimes situations are so critical, things have gone so awry in the environment, there's such a paradigm shift occurring, that we need to reach for new possibilities new opportunities," said Faber.

For some reason, many children with autism have poor immune systems and can't get rid of toxin build up in their bodies, Faber said. He wants to see if a pure environment will help reset the immune system and help them detoxify.

The study will begin next month. In the first phase, children with autism and their parents will be sleeping in the room for two weeks at a time to see if there are any changes in their blood work.

"Starting with the sleeping room, and hopefully that does make some difference, and then we can move on to a full, perhaps, month experience where their friends and family can come in and out and teachers, even therapists, can come in and out, but they would stay for about a month or so," Faber said.

Kingston said the Pittsburgh region is the perfect place for this study because he says our environment is polluted.

"Our air is unique in Pittsburgh," Kingston said. "We have the mercury coming from the stacks of those. We can't eat any of the fish. EPA has monitored all our fish, and we're not allowed to eat any fish we fish in western Pennsylvania, because they all have higher levels of mercury than are tolerable."

Guerrero said she knows some people might think it's extreme, but she's willing to give it a chance.

"Anything to help her," Malissa said. "I think they all deserve it. They all deserve a chance."

The study will cost $330,000 and has big backers that include The Alcoa Foundation and the federal government.

Researchers will be monitoring the levels of 70 different toxins in the participants bodies, and Kingston said he hopes the study will allow them to come up with a list for everyone on how to make their homes cleaner.