Residential proximity to petrol stations and risk of childhood leukemia

AbstractPetrol 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 ana lyses, 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 ...
Source: European Journal of Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research