Perinatal & Pediatric
Childhood cancer risk in the offspring in relation to paternal occupational exposure to hydrocarbon solvents Yixin Chen* Yixin Chen Julia Heck Beate Ritz Johnni Hansen
Background: Paternal occupational exposures to hydrocarbon solvents are suspected risk factors for childhood cancer in offspring. However, prior studies are inconsistent.
Methods: This Danish population-based case-control study examined childhood cancer risk associated with paternal exposure from 3 months pre-conception to birth to aromatic (ARHC), aliphatic/acyclic (ALHC) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC) as well as the specific solvents, dichloromethane, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and toluene. Exposure estimates were based on Job Exposure Matrices. We included children born 1968-2013, aged <20 years old, with 10442 cases and 261050 matched cancer-free controls (25:1 matching ratio by sex and birth date). We employed conditional logistic regression models to estimate associations between hydrocarbons (any or high/low exposure stratified by median) and offspring cancer risk, adjusted by child’s birthplace, paternal age and country of birth. Trend tests were used to assess exposure-response relationships.
Results: Paternal exposure to ARHC (high: OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.81; P trend = 0.024) and CHC (high: OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.82; P trend = 0.0028) was associated with an increased risk of glioma and an exposure-response was observed. The risk of childhood leukemia (high: OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.56; P = 0.007), especially acute myeloid leukemia (high: OR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.24, 2.82; P trend = 0.005) was higher when fathers were highly exposed to ALHC. Toluene increased the risk of leukemia (high: OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.55; P trend = 0.01) and exhibited an exposure-response as did 1,1,1-trichloroethane for children’s malignant bone tumors (OR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.13, 2.86; P trend = 0.042) including osteosarcoma (OR: 2.29; 95% CI: 1.25, 4.18; P trend = 0.0084).
Conclusions: Our findings in Denmark suggest that paternal hydrocarbon exposure may increase the risks of glioma, leukemia, and malignant bone tumors in their offspring.