June 23, 2024

Child leukemia higher living near gas stations


Univ of Modena, Italy - Unv of California
Source: European J of Epidemiology, Jul 2023

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Children living less than 50 meters (165 feet) from a gasoline fueling station were more than twice as likely to develop leukemia compared to children living 1000 meters away (more than a half mile). When looking at children over the age of 5, there was a more than 4-times greater risk of developing leukemia. Researchers believe this occurs because chemical vapors such as benzene (emitted in high amounts during refueling) easily travels downwind and are known to damage bone marrow.

Petrol stations emit benzene and other contaminants that have been associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia. We carried out a population-based case-control study in two provinces in Northern Italy. We enrolled 182 cases of childhood leukemia diagnosed during 1998-2019 and 726 age- and sex-matched population controls. We geocoded the addresses of child residences and 790 petrol stations located in the study area. We estimated leukemia risk according to distance from petrol stations within a 1000 m buffer and amount of supplied fuel within a buffer of 250 m from the child's residence. We used conditional logistic regression models to approximate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations of interest, adjusted for potential confounders. We also modeled non-linear associations using restricted cubic splines. In secondary analyses, we restricted to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases and stratifed by age (<5 and ≥5 years). Compared with children who lived≥1000 m from a petrol station, the RR was 2.2 (95% CI 0.5-9.4) for children living<50 m from nearest petrol station. Associations were stronger for the ALL subtype (RR=2.9, 95% CI 0.6-13.4) and among older children (age≥5 years: RR=4.4, 95% CI 0.6-34.1; age<5 years: RR=1.6, 95% CI 0.1-19.4). Risk of leukemia was also greater (RR=1.6, 95% CI 0.7-3.3) among the most exposed participants when assigning exposure categories based on petrol stations located within 250 m of the child's residence and total amount of gasoline delivered by the stations. Overall, residence within close proximity to a petrol station, especially one with more intense refueling activity, was associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia, though associations were imprecise.

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