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. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2506.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032506.

Exploring Urban Green Spaces' Effect against Traffic Exposure on Childhood Leukaemia Incidence

Carlos Ojeda Sánchez  1 , Javier García-Pérez  2   3 , Diana Gómez-Barroso  3   4 , Alejandro Domínguez-Castillo  2   3 , Elena Pardo Romaguera  5 , Adela Cañete  5 , Juan Antonio Ortega-García  6   7 , Rebeca Ramis  2   3   7
Affiliations

Exploring Urban Green Spaces' Effect against Traffic Exposure on Childhood Leukaemia Incidence

Carlos Ojeda Sánchez et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Several environmental factors seem to be involved in childhood leukaemia incidence. Traffic exposure could increase the risk while urban green spaces (UGS) exposure could reduce it. However, there is no evidence how these two factors interact on this infant pathology.

Objectives: to evaluate how residential proximity to UGS could be an environmental protective factor against traffic exposure on childhood leukaemia incidence.

Methods: A population-based case control study was conducted across thirty Spanish regions during the period 2000-2018. It included 2526 incident cases and 15,156, individually matched by sex, year-of-birth, and place-of-residence. Using the geographical coordinates of the participants' home residences, a 500 m proxy for exposure to UGS was built. Annual average daily traffic (AADT) was estimated for all types of roads 100 m near the children's residence. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), UGS, traffic exposure, and their possible interactions were calculated for overall childhood leukaemia, and the acute lymphoblastic (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML) subtypes, with adjustment for socio-demographic covariates.

Results: We found an increment of childhood leukaemia incidence related to traffic exposure, for every 100 AADT increase the incidence raised 1.1% (95% CI: 0.58-1.61%). UGS exposure showed an incidence reduction for the highest exposure level, Q5 (OR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.54-0.72). Regression models with both traffic exposure and UGS exposure variables showed similar results but the interaction was not significant.

Conclusions: Despite their opposite effects on childhood leukaemia incidence individually, our results do not suggest a possible interaction between both exposures. This is the first study about the interaction of these two environmental factors; consequently, it is necessary to continue taking into account more individualized data and other possible environmental risk factors involved.

Keywords: childhood cancer; childhood leukaemia; environmental factors; incidence; spatial epidemiology; traffic exposure; urban green spaces.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. This article presents independent research. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Carlos III Institute of Health.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spanish provinces selected for the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall childhood leukaemia exposure to traffic, measured in terms of AADT. Graphical representation of adjusted non-linear regression model for sex, year of birth, SES, and AR. s(AADT) represents AADT smooth effect on childhood leukaemia incidence. Blue dashed lines represent lower and upper 95% CI. Orange dashed line represents 550 AADT on the x-axis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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