Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Childhood and Exposure to Pesticides: Results of a Register-based Case-Control Study in Germany

Previous studies have suggested an association between exposure to pesticides and different types of childhood cancer. This paper presents results from a population-based case-control interview study of parents of children lsss than 15 years of age, which was conducted in the states of West Germany from 1993 to 1997. Cases were 1,184 children with leukemia, 234 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 940 with a solid tumor; 2,588 controls were also included. Parental occupational exposures were found to be related to childhood cancer regardless of the time period of exposures and the type of cancer. This finding might partially be explained by different recall of past exposures by the parents of cases and controls. Residential use of insecticides was assodated with childhood lymphoma: both extermination of insects by professional pest controllers (odds ratio (OR) = 2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2, 5.7) and frequency of parental use of household insecticides (pfor trend = 0.02) were significant risk factors for this diagnosis. The use of pesticides on farms was weakly related to childhood leukemia (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.2), while their use in gardens was not assodated with childhood leukemia (OR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.8, 1.2). The major strengths of this study were the population base and the large number of cases and controls included; a drawback was assessment of expasure on the basis of parental interviews. The data provide some evidence for an increased leukemia risk for children living on farms and for an association between use of household pesticides and risk of childhood leukemia or lymphoma. Am J Epidemiol 2000;151:639–46.