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CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA |
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Press Release - 9th August 2005 Professor Knox's latest findings of significantly increased incidence of childhood cancer close to sources of vehicle exhaust pollution is in line with his own previous findings as well as an existing body of laboratory research indicating that vehicle exhaust pollution contains a range of known cancer causing agents. It is clear from these results that vehicle exhaust pollution could be a major causal factor in the incidence of childhood leukaemia in the UK. This ties in with Thursday morning's talks as shown here, and Kevin Urayama's prize winning poster (see below) Childhood cancers strongly linked to air pollution in early life [Oil combustion and childhood cancers J Epidemiol Community Health 2005; 59: 755-60] Childhood cancers are strongly linked to pollution from engine exhausts, concludes research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The postal addresses of 22,500 children who had died of cancer in Britain between 1955 and 1980 were linked to emissions hotspots for specific chemicals. These were identified from published maps of atmospheric pollution levels. The chemicals included carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, dioxins, benzo(a)pyrene, and volatile organic compounds. Emission sources, including hospitals, bus/train stations, heavy transport hubs, and oil installations, were located using maps and information downloaded from the internet. The expected deaths from childhood cancer were plotted against the actual deaths, and the postcodes where they had been born, lived, and died were used to calculate distances from the particular hotspots and emissions sources. The calculations revealed an excess risk of cancer for children living within 0.3 kilometres of a chemical emissions hotspot and within 1 km of an emissions source, such as a transport hub. 1,3-butadiene and carbon monoxide, both of which are produced by vehicle exhausts, and particularly diesel engines, were among the primary culprits, the findings suggested. When combined with close proximity to an emissions source, such as a bus or coach station, a child was at 12 times the risk of dying from cancer. The author suggests that the exposure of a child in the womb and soon after birth to atmospheric pollutants is likely to be the critical period. And he goes on to say that accepted atmospheric safety levels for 1.3-butadiene in the workplace are probably unlikely to protect unborn children from developing cancer. More controls should be placed on the sources of emission, he says. Contact: Kevin Urayama (P4-12) between residential exposure to traffic and childhood leukemia Kevin Y. Urayama1, Peggy Reynolds et al. 1California Department of Health Services, Environmental Health Investigations Branch, Oakland, CA, USA The committee agreed that this was exactly the sort of work that was required to untangle any meaning from many of the existing epidemiological studies into the possible causes of childhood leukaemia. Susceptibility of sub-groups with specific genetic markers is a vital direction for epidemiological research to take on board in future studies. This was an excellent example. |