title: Parental occupation and intracranial neoplasms of childhood: anecdotal evidence from a unique occupational cancer cluster.
abstract: Near the end of the data-collection phase of a case-control interview study of environmental factors and childhood brain tumors, an unusual space-time cluster was revealed. Not only had six genetically unrelated children been diagnosed with a primary intracranial tumor in a recent 2.4 year period in a rural county in Ohio, but each child had one parent employed by the same company (two mothers, four fathers). This represents an observed/expected ratio greater than 70 (p much less than 0.001). All tumors were microscopically confirmed, and all case parents worked at the facility in question for at least 1 year prior to conception, during the index pregnancy, and for at least 6 months after birth. The place of parental employment was an electronics firm (Standard Industrial Classification [SIC] group number 367, electronic components and accessories), where more than 100 chemical compounds are used by the company in a manufacturing process. Results of the cluster investigation are described, including a description of the case series. This cancer cluster is unique in that the index case series is composed of the offspring of workers, not the workers themselves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wilkins
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Sinks
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kosnik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001463:Barbiturates; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004581:Electronics; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D010634:Phenobarbital; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012997:Solvents / Q000032:analysis; D013029:Space-Time Clustering; D015996:Survival Rate; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D001463:Barbiturates; D012997:Solvents; D010634:Phenobarbital