Cancer
Prenatal pesticide exposure and neuroblastoma – A statewide case-control study in California Darcy Van Deventer* Darcy Van Devebter Beate Ritz Myles Cockburn Julia E. Heck
Background: Previous studies investigating neuroblastoma risk and parental pesticide exposure have mixed findings but there is evidence of associations between maternal occupational and residential pesticide exposure and neuroblastoma. No previous studies have investigated the relationship between neuroblastoma risk and ambient residential exposures to specific pesticides.
Objective: To evaluate associations between childhood neuroblastoma and prenatal exposure to specific pesticides through residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications.
Methods: We identified neuroblastoma cases from the California Cancer Registry and cancer-free controls from birth certificates. Analyses were restricted to those living in rural areas and born between 1998–2016, resulting in 141 cases and 155,226 controls. Probable and possible carcinogens were selected from the Environmental Protection Agency’s classifications and pesticide use was collected from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Pesticide Use Reporting system and linked to land-use surveys. Exposures for subjects were assessed using a 4000m buffer around the geocoded residential addresses at birth. We used a distance decay model and defined exposure as exposure during pregnancy above the median pounds for each pesticide. Odds ratios were calculated using unconditional logistic regression models adjusted for maternal age, SES, race/ethnicity, and birth year as well as hierarchical regression models co-adjusted for other pesticides.
Results: We observed an elevated risk of neuroblastoma with exposure to the pesticide class n-methyl carbamate (aOR: 1.47; 95% CI: 0.98-2.21). In our hierarchal models, we observed elevated risks of neuroblastoma with exposure to penoxsulam (aOR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.03-2.44) and flonicamid (aOR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.09-2.26).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that ambient exposure to certain pesticides or pesticide classes during pregnancy may increase the risk of neuroblastoma.