Occupational exposure to pesticides towards the danger of childhood leukemia in China

Abstract

The association between the higher occurrence of pediatric leukemia and maternal exposure to residential or occupational pesticides is a debatable subject, especially in agricultural country like China. This study evaluates the association between exposure of mothers to home and occupational pesticides and likelihood of pediatric leukemia. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in main hospitals of Zhengzhou city, China, between September 2014 and October 2015 and children and mothers (n=1203) from oncology (cases; n=390) and orthopedic department (controls; n=813) were enrolled. The Odds Ratio (OR) for correlation between incidence of leukemia and professional home pest control applications during pregnancy and post-childbirth were 1.8 [95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.2-2.8] and 1.3 [95% CI, 1.1-2.4], respectively. The OR for association between incidence of leukemia and garden pesticide exposure during pregnancy was 2.3 [95% CI, 0.8-7.2] and during childhood was 1.23 [CI, 1.1-2.7], respectively. These results suggest that possible pesticide exposure during pregnancy is related to increased likelihood of leukemia in children and mothers are advised to avoid exposure to pesticides during pregnancy.