Northern California Cancer Center Finds Increased Risk of Most Common Form of Childhood...

Northern California Cancer Center Finds Increased Risk of Most Common Form of
Childhood Leukemia Associated With Residential Proximity to Agricultural
Pesticides

Unique database of agricultural pesticide application records informs research

FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northern California
Cancer Center (NCCC) research reveals that children exposed to agricultural
pesticides applied near their home may experience an increased risk of the
most common form of childhood leukemia.

The NCCC study, led by Rudolph Rull, Ph.D., used a database unique to
California to reveal an elevated risk in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
among children living near applications of certain categories of pesticides
used in agriculture. The study's findings were recently published in the
journal, Environmental Research.

California is one of the few states in the country that requires active
reporting of pesticide applications, including time, place, and the type and
amount of pesticide used. For this study, researchers were able to link
children's entire residential histories from birth to the time of case
diagnosis to this pesticide-use reporting database and identify agricultural
pesticides that were applied within one-half mile of each residence.

The innovative use of residential histories allowed the researchers to look at
different time periods of exposure, such as the child's lifetime or first year
of life, while accounting for changing addresses during childhood. These
residential histories were collected by the University of California,
Berkeley, from 213 children diagnosed with ALL and 268 children without
leukemia enrolled in the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study.

The scientists selected over 100 of the most commonly used pesticide active
ingredients to examine from over 600 used on crops between 1990 and 2002, the
time period of the study. The children's lifetime exposure to these
ingredients was ranked into three levels: low, moderate, and high. The study
revealed an elevated risk of ALL associated with moderate exposure, but not
high exposure, to pesticides classified as organophosphates, chlorinated
phenols, and triazines, and with agricultural pesticides used as insecticides
or fumigants.

"These initial findings suggest that there may be a specific agent or set of
agents that can increase the risk of this disease among children," said Dr.
Rull. "Our future work would include examining additional cases more recently
diagnosed and attempting to identify the pesticides that may play a role in
the development of this disease."

In addition to Dr. Rull's latest findings, NCCC is at the forefront of
research that investigates how the environment where people live may affect
their cancer risk.

About NCCC:
The Northern California Cancer Center (www.nccc.org) is the only center in the
country dedicated solely to cancer prevention research. It is recognized
nationally as a leader in researching the causes and patterns of cancer across
the population and improving the prevention and detection of cancer.

SOURCE Northern California Cancer Center

Media: Serena Espinosa, NCCC, +1-510-608-5160, serena.espinosa@nccc.org; or Jo
Ann Driscoll, Driscoll Public Relations, +1-510-663-1483, cell:
+1-510-459-8144