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Trump will reportedly link autism to pain reliever Tylenol - but many experts are sceptical

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Monday, September 22, 2025

Trump officials are expected to link the use of pain reliever Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, according to US media reports. At an Oval Office event on Monday, the US president will reportedly advise pregnant women in the US to only take Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere, to relieve high fevers.At the Charlie Kirk memorial service on Sunday, Trump said he had an "amazing" announcement coming on autism, saying it was "out of control" but they might now have a reason why.Some studies have shown a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and autism, but these findings are inconsistent and do not prove the drug causes autism. Tylenol is a popular brand of pain relief medication sold in the United States, Canada and some other countries. Its active ingredient is acetaminophen, which is called paracetamol outside North America.Tylenol maker Kenvue has defended the use of the drug in pregnant women.In a statement to the BBC, it said: "We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers."Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women, it added, and without it, women face a dangerous choice between suffering through conditions like fever or use riskier alternatives.The BBC has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment. In April, the leader of HHS, Robert F Kennedy Jr, pledged "a massive testing and research effort" to determine the cause of autism in five months.But experts have cautioned that finding the causes of autism - a complex syndrome that has been researched for decades - would not be simple. The widely held view of researchers is that there is no single cause of autism, which is thought to be the result of a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said doctors across the country have consistently identified Tylenol as one of the only safe pain relievers for pregnant women."[S]tudies that have been conducted in the past, show no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during any trimester and fetal developmental issues," the group has said. The drug is recommended by other major medical groups as well as other governments around the world. In August, a review of research led by the dean of Harvard University's Chan School of Public Health found that children may be more likely to develop autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders when exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy. The researchers argued some steps should be taken to limit use of the drug, but said the pain reliever was still important for treating maternal fever and pain, which can also have negative effects for children. But another study, published in 2024, found no relationship between exposure to Tylenol and autism. "There is no robust evidence or convincing studies to suggest there is any causal relationship," said Monique Botha, a professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University. Dr Botha added that pain relief for pregnant women was "woefully lacking", with Tylenol being one of the only safe options for the population. Autism diagnoses have increased sharply since 2000, and by 2020 the rate among 8-year-olds reached 2.77%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Scientists attribute at least part of the rise to increased awareness of autism and an expanding definition of the disorder. Researchers have also been investigating environmental factors.In the past, Kennedy has offered debunked theories about the rising rates of autism, blaming vaccines despite a lack of evidence.

Some studies have suggested an association between the two, but experts say there is no causal relationship.

Trump officials are expected to link the use of pain reliever Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, according to US media reports.

At an Oval Office event on Monday, the US president will reportedly advise pregnant women in the US to only take Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere, to relieve high fevers.

At the Charlie Kirk memorial service on Sunday, Trump said he had an "amazing" announcement coming on autism, saying it was "out of control" but they might now have a reason why.

Some studies have shown a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and autism, but these findings are inconsistent and do not prove the drug causes autism.

Tylenol is a popular brand of pain relief medication sold in the United States, Canada and some other countries. Its active ingredient is acetaminophen, which is called paracetamol outside North America.

Tylenol maker Kenvue has defended the use of the drug in pregnant women.

In a statement to the BBC, it said: "We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers."

Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women, it added, and without it, women face a dangerous choice between suffering through conditions like fever or use riskier alternatives.

The BBC has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment.

In April, the leader of HHS, Robert F Kennedy Jr, pledged "a massive testing and research effort" to determine the cause of autism in five months.

But experts have cautioned that finding the causes of autism - a complex syndrome that has been researched for decades - would not be simple.

The widely held view of researchers is that there is no single cause of autism, which is thought to be the result of a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said doctors across the country have consistently identified Tylenol as one of the only safe pain relievers for pregnant women.

"[S]tudies that have been conducted in the past, show no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during any trimester and fetal developmental issues," the group has said.

The drug is recommended by other major medical groups as well as other governments around the world.

In August, a review of research led by the dean of Harvard University's Chan School of Public Health found that children may be more likely to develop autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders when exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy.

The researchers argued some steps should be taken to limit use of the drug, but said the pain reliever was still important for treating maternal fever and pain, which can also have negative effects for children.

But another study, published in 2024, found no relationship between exposure to Tylenol and autism.

"There is no robust evidence or convincing studies to suggest there is any causal relationship," said Monique Botha, a professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University.

Dr Botha added that pain relief for pregnant women was "woefully lacking", with Tylenol being one of the only safe options for the population.

Autism diagnoses have increased sharply since 2000, and by 2020 the rate among 8-year-olds reached 2.77%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Scientists attribute at least part of the rise to increased awareness of autism and an expanding definition of the disorder. Researchers have also been investigating environmental factors.

In the past, Kennedy has offered debunked theories about the rising rates of autism, blaming vaccines despite a lack of evidence.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Crayfish, weevils and fungi released in UK to tackle invasive species such as Japanese knotweed

Scientists working for government breed biological control agents in lab to take on species choking native wildlifeCrayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain.Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalayan balsam, and other species that choke out native plants and wildlife. Continue reading...

Crayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain.Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalayan balsam, and other species that choke out native plants and wildlife.They are doing this, in part, to meet tough targets set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in its recently announced environmental improvement plan. Ministers have directed the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) to reduce the establishment of invasive species by 50% by 2030.Olaf Booy, deputy chief non-native species officer at Apha, said: “The science around biological control is always developing. It really works for those species that were introduced quite a long time ago, that we haven’t been able to prevent getting here or detect early and rapidly respond.”Scientists have been working out which species would be able to tackle the invasive pests by killing them and reducing their ability to spread, without harming other organisms. Booy said the perk of biological control agents was they reduced the need for human labour.Japanese knotweed in Taff’s Well, near Cardiff. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena PicturesThis includes targeting floating pennywort, which spreads and chokes the life from rivers, by releasing the South American weevil Listronotus elongatus. Where weevils have overwintered for several years, floating pennywort biomass appears reduced across a number of release sites.Defra has also employed specialist scientists at the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (Cabi) to conduct biological control (biocontrol) research into the use of naturally occurring, living organisms to tackle Japanese knotweed. Cabi has targeted this species using the release of the psyllid Aphalara itadori, which feeds on the plant.Similarly, Cabi has been trialling the release of the rust fungus Puccinia komarovii var. glanduliferae to tackle Himalayan balsam. Defra said the results of the release were encouraging and would continue at compatible sites.“Once the biocontrol agent is working properly, then it should actually start to spread naturally across the range, where the non-native species is, and it will start to bring that population of the non-native species down,” Booy said. “Hopefully, once it starts to establish in the wild, then it sort of starts taking over itself, and the human effort bit starts to reduce significantly.”As well as releasing biological control agents into the wild, government scientists have been breeding threatened species to protect their populations from invasion. Britain’s native white-clawed crayfish has disappeared from most of the country since the invasive American signal crayfish was introduced in the 1970s. These non-native creatures outcompete the native crayfish and carry a deadly plague, making eradication or containment virtually impossible.Himalayan balsam invades the banks of the river Avon. Photograph: Mark Boulton/AlamyInvasive species experts have created protected “ark sites”: safe habitats where white-clawed crayfish can survive free from threats. A new hatchery has been set up in Yorkshire to release them into the wild in secure locations, and in Devon the Wildwood Trust is expanding its hatchery, building a bespoke ark site pond, and rescuing crayfish from rivers under threat. More than 1,500 breeding-age crayfish so far have been translocated to eight safe sites in Gloucestershire.The creatures Booy is most concerned about establishing in the wild include raccoons and raccoon dogs, which are kept as pets but are very good at escaping into the wild.The medium-sized predators could be harmful to the amphibians and small birds they feed on, he said. At the moment, keepers of raccoons and raccoon dogs do not have to register with the government, though breeding and selling them is banned.Social media trends depicting raccoons as cuddly and desirable pets could be a concern, he said: “You do see things like raccoons and raccoon dogs popping up on social media and stuff. Particularly raccoons, they’re kind of cute and cuddly, and you could imagine that a TikTok trend might encourage people to think about getting a species like that. Obviously years ago we had the interest in terrapins from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”He added: “If you have a raccoon, you really need to know how to keep it securely to avoid it escaping. You don’t really want any predators of that sort of size establishing and spreading in the country, because it will have knock-on impacts for biodiversity. But they are also potentially vectors of disease as well.”The biosecurity minister and Labour peer Sue Hayman said: “With a changing climate we are constantly assessing for new risks and threats, including from invasive plants and animals, as well as managing the impacts of species already in this country. Invasive non-native species cost Britain’s economy nearly £2bn a year, and our environmental improvement plan sets out plans to reduce their establishment to protect native wildlife and farmers’ livelihoods.”

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Guggenheim scraps Basque Country expansion plan after local protests

Campaigners celebrate defeat of proposal to extend Bilbao institution into areas including nature reserveEnvironmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country have welcomed the scrapping of a project to build an outpost of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum on a Unesco biosphere reserve that is a vital habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds.The scheme’s backers, which include the Guggenheim Foundation, the Basque government and local and regional authorities, had claimed the museum’s twin sites – one in the Basque town of Guernica and one in the nearby Urdaibai reserve – would help revitalise the area, attract investment and create jobs. Continue reading...

Environmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country have welcomed the scrapping of a controversial project that would have seen an outpost of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum built on a Unesco biosphere reserve that is a vital habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds.The scheme’s backers, who include the Guggenheim Foundation, the Basque government and local and regional authorities, had claimed the new museum’s twin sites – one in the Basque town of Guernica and one in the nearby Urdaibai reserve – would help revitalise the area, attract investment and create jobs.But opponents said the scheme was being pushed through without proper consultation and would wreck Urdaibai, a 22,068-hectare site that was declared a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1984.In a statement earlier this week, the foundation announced that the project had been abandoned “in light of the territorial, urban planning and environmental constraints and limitations”.It added: “New alternatives will be explored in order to face the challenge of elaborating a proposal that responds to the museum’s objective of growing in order to remain a leading cultural institution internationally and a driving force in the Basque Country’s cultural, economic and social scene.”The Bilbao Museum, which opened in 1997 despite considerable opposition, is credited with helping to reverse the city’s post-industrial decline and put it on the tourist map. But local people and ecologists argued that Urdaibai’s cliffs and estuarine salt marshes were hardly comparable with the polluted, urban site on which the Guggenheim was built.Campaign groups and environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, WWF, Ecologists in Action, Friends of the Earth and SEO/BirdLife, had all called for the project to be scrapped. News of the foundation’s decision was received enthusiastically.Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform said in a statement: “The authorities told us unanimously that they were going to build this museum ‘no matter what’.“They didn’t care about the opinion of society; they didn’t care about the debate generated among citizens. Now, however, we are here celebrating the decision that these same leaders and institutions have had to make, unable to ignore a reality revealed by science, the law, and society.”SEO/BirdLife said “citizen mobilisation” had been key to saving “this threatened natural heritage”, while Greenpeace Spain said: “Social mobilisation works and, together with countless local groups, we have managed to stop the extension of the Guggenheim Museum that threatened to destroy this unique natural space. Urdaibai is already a monument and it will continue to be one.”

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Trump DEI crackdown expands to national park gift shops

The Trump administration’s efforts to purge diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government is hitting gift shops at national parks. In a memo last month, acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron called for a review of the items available for purchase in park gift shops. The memo says that items should be...

The Trump administration’s efforts to purge diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government is hitting gift shops at national parks. In a memo last month, acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron called for a review of the items available for purchase in park gift shops. The memo says that items should be reviewed for compliance with an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to cease activities related to DEI, accessibility or “environmental justice.” Like the order before it, the memo does not appear to define DEI.  Asked whether this means that any product related to people who are minorities would be impacted, a spokesperson for the Interior Department replied, “As you saw the memo, then you know that is not what it says.” Instead, said the spokesperson, Burgum’s order “directs federal agencies to ensure that government-affiliated retail spaces remain neutral and do not promote specific viewpoints.” “To comply with this order, the National Park Service is conducting a review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors,” added the spokesperson, who did not sign their name in the response. “The goal is to keep National Parks focused on their core mission: preserving natural and cultural resources for the benefit of all Americans.” The review’s deadline is next Friday. The memo does not appear to lay out specific criteria for the review. The memo was made public this week by the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy organization. “Banning history books from park stores and cracking down on park T-shirts and keychains is not what national park visitors want from their Park Service,” said Alan Spears, the group’s senior director for cultural resources, in a written statement.  “The National Parks Conservation Association opposes this latest move from the administration because we, like the majority of Americans, support telling the full American story at our parks. That means acknowledging hard truths about slavery, climate change, and other topics that challenge us as a nation,” he added. The memo comes as part of a broader Trump administration push to reshape the portrayal of history at national parks and beyond. Earlier this year, the administration directed National Park Service units to review all public-facing content for messaging that disparages Americans or that “emphasizes matters unrelated to the beauty, abundance, or grandeur” of natural features. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Government reveals taxpayer-funded deal to keep Australia’s largest aluminium smelter open. How long we will pay?

The federal government has done a deal - underwritten by the taxpayer - to keep Australia’s largest aluminum smelter open. What’s the exit strategy if it doesn’t go to plan?

It seemed inevitable – politically at least – that the federal government would step in to save Tomago Aluminium in New South Wales, Australia’s largest aluminium smelter. Rio Tinto, the owners of Tomago, has enjoyed attractively priced electricity for a long time, most recently with AGL. But this contract ends in 2028. Unable to find a replacement at a price it could accept, Rio Tinto warned that Tomago was facing closure. Tomago produces more than one-third of Australia’s aluminium and accounts for 12% of NSW’s energy consumption. On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a Commonwealth-led deal for electricity supply beyond 2028. This deal will provide the smelter with billions of dollars in subsidised power from the Commonwealth-owned Snowy Hydro through a portfolio of renewables, backed by storage and gas. This follows months of negotiation to avoid the smelter closing and sacking its roughly 1,000 workers. The government has provided funding to support other struggling manufacturers such as the Whyalla steelworks and the Mount Isa copper smelter, and wants to see aluminium production continue in Australia. About 30–40% of the cost of making aluminium is the energy, so it’s a huge input. Electricity from the market would have been considerably more expensive, so the government is subsidising the commercial price. The deal may have been a necessary and immediate solution to a political problem with local economic and social impacts. However, it raises several important questions about the risks involved and the longevity of the plant. Risks and benefits First, to what risk is the federal government exposed? Commodity markets such as aluminium are prone to difficult cycles, and there’s a chance Tomago might not survive at all, in which case the government is off the hook. Not only are we looking to subsidise Tomago’s electricity, but we are looking for Snowy Hydro to invest in renewable energy projects and build more renewable energy in NSW. The history of building renewable energy and its support transmission infrastructure suggests that both cost and time constraints become problematic. The NSW government may have a role in supporting this side of the deal. The Commonwealth’s case for making this deal is presumably underpinned by its Future made in Australia policy. This says we should be supporting industries where there’s a national interest in a low-emissions world. So if, for example, we can see a future where subsidising Tomago’s electricity for five or ten years would mean it can produce low-emission aluminium the world wants to buy, that would be a success. But what happens if, after five or ten years, the world hasn’t sufficiently changed to provide enough renewable energy to make our electricity cost less? What if the rest of the world wants green, low-emissions aluminium, but that’s not what Australia produces? If the risks the government is underwriting crystallise in a bad way, does the government have an exit strategy? We’ve been here before In 1984, under the leadership of John Cain, the Labor government signed a joint venture agreement with Alcoa to build an aluminium smelter at Portland, including a deal to subsidise electricity until 2016. Forty years later, we’re still pay for it. With Tomago, we don’t want Australian taxpayers exposed to something over which we have no control – the global price of aluminium. If the price of aluminium collapses, or Snowy Hydro is permanently uncompetitive or China dominates the world market, the hypothesis that Tomago can be competitive in the long term collapses. Interestingly, this deal is very different to the one the Commonwealth and Queensland governments have done to support Rio Tinto’ Boyne smelter in Gladstone. In October, Rio Tinto announced plans to possibly bring forward the closure of Gladstone Power Station to 2029, six years ahead of the current schedule, and supply the smelter with predominantly renewable electricity. The move was welcomed by environmental groups, as Gladstone is Queensland’s oldest and largest coal-fired station. But some commentators have said closing the plant in four years’ time is unrealistic, and a staged phase-out would be better. The announcement this week, welcomed by the business and its workers, is probably unsurprising. But we haven’t seen the detail. The government may very well have a case for this deal, but the future of the plant and its power supply remain unknowable. The risks with taxpayer funds may have been worth taking, but they should be clearly explained and justified. Tony Wood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Government
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Israel Publishes Draft Law Seeking to Boost State Revenues From Dead Sea Minerals

By Steven ScheerJERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for...

JERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for extracting minerals from the Dead Sea as well as tackling its environmental consequences.The Finance Ministry said the proposed law intends to redefine the concession to ensure the public and the state get their rightful share, while ensuring the preservation of nature and environmental values."The law serves as the basis for allocating the concession and the terms of the future tender for resource extraction from the Dead Sea, with an emphasis on promoting optimal competition, lowering entry barriers, and attracting leading international players," it said.Fertiliser maker ICL Group has held the concession, giving it exclusive rights to minerals from the Dead Sea site, for five decades, but its permit is set to expire in 2030.Last month, ICL gave up right of first refusal for its Dead Sea concession under a government plan to open it up for tender, although it would receive some $3 billion if it loses the permit when it expires.ICL, one of the world's largest potash producers, has previously said its Dead Sea assets were worth $6 billion. ICL extracts mainly potash and magnesium from the concession.Under the draft law, which still needs preliminary approval from lawmakers, the state's share of concession profits would ultimately rise to an average of 50% from 35% currently, partly through royalties, the ministry said.The law also aims to tackle negative impacts of resource extraction activities in the Dead Sea, which continues to shrink.ICL plans to participate in the future tender and has said it believes it is the most suitable candidate to operate the future concession.Accountant General Yali Rothenberg said the law places emphasis on fair, efficient, and responsible use of one of Israel’s most important natural resources. It "will ensure that the state maximizes economic value for the public, promotes optimal competition, and protects the unique environment of the Dead Sea region for future generations," he said.(Reporting by Steven Scheer. Editing by Jane Merriman)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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