title: Home pesticide exposures and risk of childhood leukemia: Findings from the childhood leukemia international consortium.
abstract: Some previous studies have suggested that home pesticide exposure before birth and during a child's early years may increase the risk of childhood leukemia. To further investigate this, we pooled individual level data from 12 case-control studies in the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium. Exposure data were harmonized into compatible formats. Pooled analyses were undertaken using multivariable unconditional logistic regression. The odds ratio (ORs) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) associated with any pesticide exposure shortly before conception, during pregnancy and after birth were 1.39 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25, 1.55) (using 2,785 cases and 3,635 controls), 1.43 (95% CI: 1.32, 1.54) (5,055 cases and 7,370 controls) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.51) (4,162 cases and 5,179 controls), respectively. Corresponding ORs for risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were 1.49 (95% CI: 1.02, 2.16) (173 cases and 1,789 controls), 1.55 (95% CI: 1.21, 1.99) (344 cases and 4,666 controls) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.76, 1.53) (198 cases and 2,655 controls), respectively. There was little difference by type of pesticide used. The relative similarity in ORs between leukemia types, time periods and pesticide types may be explained by similar exposure patterns and effects across the time periods in ALL and AML, participants' exposure to multiple pesticides, or recall bias. Although some recall bias is likely, until a better study design can be found to investigate the associations between home pesticide use and childhood leukemia in an equally large sample, it would appear prudent to limit the use of home pesticides before and during pregnancy, and during childhood.
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Section of Environment and Radiation, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Helen D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Infante-Rivard
authors.affiliation: University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Metayer
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers Team (EPICEA), Villejuif, France.|Paris-Descartes University, UMRS-1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Paris, France.|RNCE - National Registry of Childhood Cancers, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lightfoot
authors.affiliation: German Childhood Cancer Registry (GCCR), The Institute for Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Centre, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaatsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roman
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Traslazionale, Universita` del Piemonte Orientale, AOU Maggiore della Carita` e CPO, Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magnani
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology Clinical Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.|Department of Pediatrics and Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
authors.forename: Logan G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Spector
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Th Petridou
authors.affiliation: Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Milne
authors.affiliation: Dean's Department and Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dockerty
authors.affiliation: ISPO-Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miligi
authors.affiliation: Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.|Sax Institute, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Bruce K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers Team (EPICEA), Villejuif, France.|Paris-Descartes University, UMRS-1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Paris, France.|RNCE - National Registry of Childhood Cancers, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Jérémie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rudant
authors.affiliation: Curtin University, School of Public Health, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fritschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA.
authors.forename: Luoping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology, Lalla Seràgnoli, Policlinico Sant'Orsola Malpighi, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rondelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, "Pan.&Agl. Kyriakou" Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baka
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers Team (EPICEA), Villejuif, France.|Paris-Descartes University, UMRS-1153, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Center (CRESS), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: Hematology-Oncology Unit, First Department of Pediatrics, Athens University Medical School, "Aghia Sophia" General Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moschovi
authors.affiliation: University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA.
authors.forename: Alice Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Section of Environment and Radiation, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schüz
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010575:Pesticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides
keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia acute myeloid leukemia; case-control study; childhood; pesticide; pooled analysis