title: Residential proximity to environmental pollution sources and risk of rare tumors in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for rare tumors in children, and the role of environmental factors needs to be assessed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To ascertain the effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood cancer risk, taking industrial groups into account.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a population-based case-control study of five childhood cancers in Spain (retinoblastoma, hepatic tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, germ cell tumors, and other epithelial neoplasms/melanomas), including 557 incident cases from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (period 1996-2011), and 3342 controls individually matched by year of birth, sex, and region of residence. Distances were computed from the residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables and socioeconomic confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children living near industrial and urban areas as a whole showed no excess risk for any of the tumors analyzed. However, isolated statistical associations (OR; 95%CI) were found between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers (2.49; 1.01-6.12 at 3km) and organic chemical industries (2.54; 1.10-5.90 at 2km). Moreover, soft tissue sarcomas registered the lower risks in the environs of industries as a whole (0.59; 0.38-0.93 at 4km).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have found isolated statistical associations between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers and organic chemical industries.
authors: Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Spain. Electronic address: jgarcia@isciii.es.
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: García-Pérez
authors: Rare Disease Research Institute (IIER), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: amorales@isciii.es.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Morales-Piga
authors: Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Spain; National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: dgomez@externos.isciii.es.
authors: Diana
authors: D
authors: Gómez-Barroso
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: ibontama@gmail.com.
authors: Ibon
authors: I
authors: Tamayo-Uria
authors: Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (RETI-SEHOP), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: elena.pardo@uv.es.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Pardo Romaguera
authors: Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Spain. Electronic address: glabente@isciii.es.
authors: Gonzalo
authors: G
authors: López-Abente
authors: Cancer and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Spain. Electronic address: rramis@isciii.es.
authors: Rebeca
authors: R
authors: Ramis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Case-control study; Childhood cancer; Industrial pollution; Rare tumor; Residential proximity; Urban pollution