TY - JOUR T1 - Parental occupational exposure to pesticides and the risk of childhood leukemia in Costa Rica JO - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health PY - 2007/8VL - 33 IS - 4 SP - 293 EP - 303 AU - Monge, Patricia AU - Wesseling, Catharina AU - Guardado, Jorge AU - Lundberg, Ingvar AU - Ahlbom, Anders AU - Cantor, Kenneth P AU - Weiderpass, Elisabete AU - Partanen, Timo M3 - doi: 10.5271/sjweh.1146 UR - https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=1146 KW - cancer epidemiology KW - case–control study KW - child KW - childhood cancer KW - childhood leukemia KW - Costa Rica KW - developing country KW - fetal exposure KW - parental occupational exposure KW - pesticide KW - pregnancy KW - reproductive effect KW - risk KW - tropics N2 - '

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OBJECTIVES ': 'Parental exposure to pesticides and the risk of leukemia in offspring were examined in a population-based case–control study in Costa Rica.

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METHODS ': 'All cases of childhood leukemia (N=334), in 1995–2000, were identified at the Cancer Registry and the Children’s Hospital. Population controls (N=579) were drawn from the National Birth Registry. Interviews of parents were conducted using conventional and icon-based calendar forms. An exposure model was constructed for 25 pesticides in five time periods.

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RESULTS ': 'Mothers’ exposures to any pesticides during the year before conception and during the first and second trimesters were associated with the risk [odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0–5.9; OR 22, 95% CI 2.8–171.5; OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4–14.7, respectively] and during anytime (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0–4.8). An association was found for fathers’ exposures to any pesticides during the second trimester (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0–2.3). An increased risk with respect to organophosphates was found for mothers during the first trimester (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.0–12.2) and for fathers during the year before conception and the first trimester (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0–2.2 and OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0–2.6, respectively), and benzimidazoles during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0–4.4; OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0–5.0; OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0–5.2, respectively). There was a suggestion of an exposure–response gradient for fathers as regards picloram, benomyl, and paraquat. Age at diagnosis was positively associated with fathers’ exposures and inversely associated with mothers’ exposures.

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CONCLUSIONS ': 'The results suggest that parental exposure to certain pesticides may increase the risk of leukemia in offspring.

SN - 0355-3140 ER -