The Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine this week published a study warning that Wi-Fi may be responsible for an increase in childhood autism.

"These findings tie in with other studies showing adverse cell-membrane responses and disruptions of normal cell physiology," says study author Dr. George Carlo. "The electromagnetic radiation apparently causes the metals to be trapped in cells, slowing clearance and accelerating the onset of symptoms."

"Autism is a disabling neuro-developmental disorder," explains ComputerWeekly's John-Paul Kamath. "Its cause is not completely understood, but it is linked to heavy-metal toxicity."

Still, Kamath points out that there are dissenters - the University of Pennsylvania's Dr. Kenneth Foster says, "Health agencies such as the World Health Organisation have repeatedly examined the scientific evidence and concluded that there is no convincing evidence for hazard from radiofrequency energy at levels below... international guidelines."

And Switched's Tim Stevens warns, "It's natural for parents of autistic children to be looking for answers, but with all these findings indicating various causes, many getting summarily debunked, it's hard to feel too confident in the findings of this latest one without some further backing. The only fact we know is that the exact cause of autism is still unknown."

More here from Gizmodo ... more here from InformationWeek ... more here from About.com ... and the press release is here.