“The Silent Epidemic: Rising Autism Cases Linked to Copper Mining in Chile’s Antofagasta Region”
In the waiting room of Dr. Iván Silva’s medical centre in Calama, Chile, Nadia Saavedra and her husband Claudio sit quietly as their three-year-old son Pablo attends his regular physiotherapy session. When Pablo was a year old, they began noticing he wasn’t developing like other children his age. He didn’t speak and couldn’t maintain eye contact. Tests confirmed their fears: Pablo had severe autism.
“The dreams, the expectations you have for your child – all of that is shattered,” said Claudio. “But I still hold onto hope that one day I’ll wake up and hear him say ‘dad,’ or ‘I love you’.”
Pablo is among a growing number of children diagnosed with autism to have come through the doors of Dr. Silva’s practice in the city of Calama, located in the copper mining region of Antofagasta, Chile. Dr. Silva, a 71-year-old pediatrician and regional director of the Chilean Medical Association, has noticed a worrying trend of increasing autism cases among children in the region.
“When I started, I’d see one or two cases of autism a month. Today, it’s one per day, and the severity of the autism has increased,” Dr. Silva told Climate Home News. He also mentioned that genetic conditions, respiratory issues, and skin problems are becoming more common among his younger patients.
Dr. Silva is part of a group of medical practitioners who are raising the alarm about the soaring numbers of children in the region being born with severe autism and neurodivergent conditions. They suspect that environmental factors, particularly pollution from the open-pit copper mines that dominate the region, may be contributing to this trend.
Environmental factors have been found to influence the onset and severity of autism, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Medical professionals in the region have called for more research into the impacts of copper mining on the health of local people, especially pregnant women and children. However, efforts for comprehensive research have been thwarted by lack of funding and limited access to laboratory facilities.
“The state doesn’t want to know what’s happening here,” said Dr. Silva. “There’s no intention to investigate whether what we’re seeing is linked to mining. There are no research institutes, almost no universities involved and not enough doctors in Calama.”
As the world’s top producer of copper, Chile plays a crucial role in global electrification and the clean energy transition. However, the health impacts of copper mining on local communities, particularly children with autism and other health conditions, cannot be ignored. More research and resources are needed to understand and address this growing concern in the region.