title: Road traffic and childhood leukemia: the ESCALE study (SFCE).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traffic is a source of environmental exposures, including benzene, which may be related to childhood leukemia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A national registry-based case-control study [ESCALE (Etude Sur les Cancers et les Leucémies de l'Enfant, Study on Environmental and Genetic Risk Factors of Childhood Cancers and Leukemia)] carried out in France was used to assess the effect of exposure to road traffic exhaust fumes on the risk of childhood leukemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over the study period, 2003-2004, 763 cases and 1,681 controls < 15 years old were included, and the controls were frequency matched with the cases on age and sex. The ESCALE data were collected by a standardized telephone interview of the mothers. Various indicators of exposure to traffic and pollution were determined using the geocoded addresses at the time of diagnosis for the cases and of interview for the controls. Indicators of the distance from, and density of, main roads and traffic nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) concentrations derived from traffic emission data were used. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using unconditional regression models adjusted for potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acute leukemia (AL) was significantly associated with estimates of traffic NO(2) concentration at the place of residence > 27.7 µg/m(3) compared with NO(2) concentration < 21.9 µg/m(3) [OR=1.2; confidence interval (CI), 1.0-1.5] and with the presence of a heavy-traffic road within 500 m compared with the absence of a heavy-traffic road in the same area (OR=2.0; 95% CI, 1.0-3.6). There was a significant association between AL and a high density of heavy-traffic roads within 500 m compared with the reference category with no heavy-traffic road within 500 m (OR=2.2; 95% CI, 1.1-4.2), with a significant positive linear trend of the association of AL with the total length of heavy-traffic road within 500 m.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports the hypothesis that living close to heavy-traffic roads may increase the risk of childhood leukemia.
authors.affiliation: INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale), CESP (Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations) Environmental Epidemiology of Cancer, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amigou
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sermage-Faure
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leverger
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baruchel
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nelken
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Margueritte
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Perel
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mechinaud
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bordigoni
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hémon
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clavel
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007938:Leukemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide