researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, us, examined data on chemical toxicity and have identified 202 industrial chemicals that they say are responsible for neural disorders like autism, attention deficit disorder and mental retardation in children worldwide. The study was published online in The Lancet on November 8, 2006.

"Even if substantial documentation on the toxicity of the chemicals is available, most chemicals are not regulated to protect the developing brain,' says Philippe Grandjean, the study's lead author. The scientist says that it is this lack of regulation that has caused such rise of neural disorders in children.

The list was compiled from the hazardous substances data bank of the National Library of Medicine and other sources. The authors examined the published literature on the only five substances on the list