title: Maternal benzene exposure during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of childhood leukemia is increasing rapidly all over the world. However, studies on maternal benzene exposure during pregnancy and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have not been systematically assessed. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between maternal solvent, paint, petroleum exposure, and smoking during pregnancy and risk of childhood ALL.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies up to September 1st, 2013 were identified by searching the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library and the Web of Science databases. The effects were pooled using either fixed or random effect models based on the heterogeneity of the studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-eight case-control studies and one cohort study were included for analysis, with a total of 16,695 cases and 1,472,786 controls involved. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for ALL was 1.25 (1.09, 1.45) for solvent, 1.23 (1.02, 1.47) for paint, 1.42 (1.10, 1.84) for petroleum exposure, and 0.99 (0.93, 1.06) for maternal smoking during pregnancy. No publication bias was found in this meta-analysis and consistent results were observed for subgroup and sensitivity analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Childhood ALL was associated with maternal solvent, paint, and petroleum exposure during pregnancy. No association was found between ALL and maternal smoking during pregnancy. Avoidance of maternal occupational and environmental benzene exposure during pregnancy could contribute to a decrease in the risk of childhood ALL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shaozun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yongyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: YuE
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001554:Benzene / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D017594:Publication Bias; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D001554:Benzene