This independent research team, led by a Harvard Medical School professor, examined mercury content alongside markers of oxidative stress in the cerebellar tissue of 9 autistic and 10 control individuals. They found that the oxidative stress marker 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) was significantly elevated in autistic brains by 68.9%. They also found a highly significant association between cerebellar mercury and 3-NT levels. Mercury levels were highly variable, so the 68.2% increase in autistic mercury levels was not statistically significant. The authors concluded that their “preliminary data suggest a need for more extensive studies of oxidative stress, its relationship to the environmental factors and its possible attenuation by antioxidants in autism.”