Poster: Passive exposure to agricultural pesticides and risk of childhood leukemia in an Italian community
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 22 October 2015 10:00
Background and aims
Exposure to pesticides used in agriculture has been suggested to be a risk factor of childhood leukemia, though definitive evidence on this relation and the exact identification of the specific pesticides involved are still lacking.
Methods
We carried out a population-based case-control study in the Modena and Reggio Emilia provinces of Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy. We included the 111 childhood leukemia cases newly-diagnosed from 1998 to 2011, and 444 controls matched by age and sex to the cases. Each children's house was georeferred and positioned on the provincial territorial cartography.
Exposure Assessment
Through remote sensing mapping and Geographical Information System analysis, we assessed land use in the 100-meter radius around children's homes. In particular, we examined four types of crops (vineyards, orchards, vegetable and arable) characterized by the use of specific pesticides potentially involved in childhood leukemia etiology. Exposure to air pollutants from motorized traffic (benzene and PM10) was assessed for each subject in study using detailed emission and dispersion modeling.
Results
We computed the odds ratios (OR) of the disease and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) according to type and percentage of land use around child's home and adjusting for air pollution from vehicular traffic. Adjusted OR (95%CI) of leukemia for children with >95% of arable soil (crops such as corn, wheat, soya, sugar beet) around their residence, characterized by use of Dicamba, 2.4-D, MCPA, diazines and pyrethroids, was 2.1 (0.5-8.7). Risk further increased among children aged less than 5 years (OR= 5.6 (0.8-41.7). No other association between specific crops and disease risk emerged.
Conclusions
The excess childhood leukemia risk observed among children residing in rural areas close to arable soils seems to indicate a role of passive pesticide exposure in disease etiology.
