Assessment of Pediatric Cancer and Its Relationship to Environmental Contaminants: An Ecological Study in Idaho

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to determine the degree to which a multivariable principal component model based on several potentially carcinogenic metals and pesticides could explain the county-level pediatric cancer rates across Idaho. We contend that human exposure to environmental contaminants is one of the reasons for increased pediatric cancer incidence in the United States. Although several studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between environmental contaminants and carcinogenesis among children, research gaps exist in developing a meaningful association between them. For this study, pediatric cancer data was provided by the Cancer Data Registry of Idaho, concentrations of metals and metalloids in groundwater were collected from the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and pesticide use data were collected from the United States Geological Survey. Most environmental variables were significantly intercorrelated at an adjusted P-value <0.01 (97 out of 153 comparisons). Hence, a principal component analysis was employed to summarize those variables to a smaller number of components. An environmental burden index (EBI) was constructed using these principal components, which categorized the environmental burden profiles of counties into low, medium, and high. EBI was significantly associated with pediatric cancer incidence (P-value <0.05). The rate ratio of high EBI profile to low EBI profile for pediatric cancer incidence was estimated as 1.196, with lower and upper confidence intervals of 1.061 and 1.348, respectively. A model was also developed in the study using EBI to estimate the county-level pediatric cancer incidence in Idaho (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency = 0.97).

Keywords: environmental burden index; multivariable statistical analysis; pediatric cancer; pesticides; principal component analysis.

Figure 1

Age‐stratum specific pediatric cancer incidence rate for (a) 0–4 years, (b) 5–9 years, (c) 10–14 years, and (d) 15–19 years.

Figure 2

(a) Groundwater well locations in Idaho, (b) Total pesticide mass (out of 25 pesticides) in Idaho (kg/acre/year).

Figure 3

(a) Eigenvalue spectra, and (b) Number of principal component's against the fraction of variability explained by the components.

Figure 4

Environmental burden index (EBI)—Low, Medium, and High EBI profiles at county scale in Idaho.

Figure 5

Box plot of total pediatric cancer incidence for the various environmental profiles.

Figure 6

Modeled and observed pediatric cancer incidence for ages 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, and 15–19. The x‐axis corresponds to the 44 counties in Idaho.