Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 27;21(1):103.
doi: 10.1186/s12940-022-00909-0.

Residential proximity to croplands at birth and childhood leukaemia

Sophie Bamouni  1   2 , Denis Hémon  3   4 , Laure Faure  3   4   5 , Jacqueline Clavel  3   4   5 , Stéphanie Goujon  3   4   5
Affiliations

Residential proximity to croplands at birth and childhood leukaemia

Sophie Bamouni et al. Environ Health. .

Abstract

Background: Domestic and parental occupational pesticide exposures are suspected of involvement in the occurrence of childhood acute leukaemia (AL), but the role of exposure to agricultural activities is little known. In a previous ecological study conducted in France, we observed an increase in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) incidence rate with increasing viticulture density in the municipalities of residence at diagnosis.

Objectives: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that residential proximity to croplands at birth increases the risk of childhood AL, with a particular focus on vineyards.

Methods: We identified all the primary AL cases diagnosed before the age of 15 years in the cohorts of children born in the French municipalities between 1990 and 2015. We estimated crop densities in each municipality of residence at birth using agricultural census data, for ten crop types. Variations in standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were evaluated with Poisson regression models, for all AL, ALL and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), separately.

Results: Among the 19,809,700 children born and residing in mainland France at birth in 1990-2015, 8,747 AL cases (7,236 ALL and 1,335 AML) were diagnosed over the period. We did not evidence any statistically significant positive association between total crop density or any specific crop density in the municipality of residence at birth and all AL, ALL or AML. Interestingly, we observed a higher ALL incidence rate in the municipalities with the highest viticulture densities (SIR = 1.25 95%CI [1.01-1.54]). Adjusting for the main potential confounders did not change the results.

Conclusion: Our study does not support the hypothesis that residential proximity to croplands, particularly vineyards, around birth plays a role in childhood leukaemia. The slightly higher ALL incidence rate in children born in the municipalities with the highest viticulture densities may reflect the previously-observed association at diagnosis.

Keywords: Agricultural census; Agricultural crops; Childhood leukaemia; Pesticides; Prenatal exposure.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Total crop density (%) in the French municipalities – Agricultural census 2010
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Specific crop densities (%) in the French municipalities – Agricultural census 2010
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Standardized incidence ratio of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in viticulture densitya categories based on population-weighted semi-quartiles. Legend: a The viticulture density in a municipality is defined as the ratio of the total area used for viticulture over the total area of this municipality. The categories were defined as follows: 1st category: municipalities with a total crop density < 5%, 2nd category: municipalities with viticulture density < 5%, 3rd to 10.th categories: 8 groups of municipalities with viticulture density ≥ 5% and equal number of births over the study period (1990–2015). *p-value of the chi-square test of heterogeneity of the viticulture density categories
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Poulalhon C, Vignon L, Idbrik L, Bernier-Chastagner V, Fabre M, Schleiermacher G, et al. Data Resource Profile: The French Childhood Cancer Observation Platform (CCOP) Int J Epidemiol. 2020;49(5):1434–1435k. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa048. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bailey HD, Infante-Rivard C, Metayer C, Clavel J, Lightfoot T, Kaatsch P, et al. Home pesticide exposures and risk of childhood leukemia: Findings from the childhood leukemia international consortium. Int J Cancer. 2015;137(11):2644–63. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29631. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Karalexi MA, Tagkas CF, Markozannes G, Tseretopoulou X, Hernández AF, Schüz J, et al. Exposure to pesticides and childhood leukemia risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Pollut. 2021;285:117376. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117376. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van Maele-Fabry G, Gamet-Payrastre L, Lison D. Household exposure to pesticides and risk of leukemia in children and adolescents: Updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Hyg Environ Health janv. 2019;222(1):49–67. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.08.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bailey HD, Fritschi L, Infante-Rivard C, Glass DC, Miligi L, Dockerty JD, et al. Parental occupational pesticide exposure and the risk of childhood leukemia in the offspring: findings from the childhood leukemia international consortium. Int J Cancer. 2014;135(9):2157–72. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28854. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types