Pesticide (Endosulfan) levels in the bone marrow of children with hematological malignancies

Objectives (1) To confirm the presence of Pesticide (Endosulfan) residues in the bone marrow (BM) of children with acute hematological malignancies and compare them with controls. (2) To ascertain if children with Endosulfan in their marrow reside in areas sprayed with Endosulfan. Study design Case control study Setting Pediatric oncology unit of a medical college teaching hospital in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. Subjects 26 patients with proven hematological malignancy and 26 age matched controls suffering from benign hematological disease. Methods Endosulfan residues in the BM were estimated by gas chromatography — mass spectrometry (Minimum detection limit 10ng/mL). The subject’s geographical area of location (residence) was determined to see whether they belong to sprayed area or not. The Chi-square test was applied to see an association between exposure status and hematological malignancy. Results A total of 52 children were enrolled of which 26 were study cases and 26 were controls. Of the study and control groups, 84.7% and 73.1%, respectively were from exposed areas. The major (88.4%) illness in the study group was ALL, while ITP (50%) occurred most frequently in the control group. Six out of 26 study cases tested positive for endosulfan in the BM, against 1 out of 26 controls ( P = 0.042). The Odds ratio was 7.5. All children who had endosulfan in the bone marrow originated from areas, where endosulfan is still being used. Conclusions Children with hematological malignancy had raised levels of endosulfan in the bone marrow compared to those without. All the children with raised bone marrow Endosulfan levels were found to be from areas exposed to the pesticide.