Prenatal Exposure to Air Toxics and Risk of Wilms’ Tumor in 0- to 5-Year-Old Children

OBJECTIVE:To study prenatal air toxic exposure and Wilmsʼ tumor in children. METHODS:We identified 337 Wilmsʼ tumor cases among children younger than 6 years (1988 to 2008) from the California Cancer Registry, randomly selected 96,514 controls from California birth rolls in 20:1 ratio matched to all cancer cases, then linked birth addresses to air monitors within 15 miles to assess exposures. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to estimate effects. RESULTS:Children prenatally exposed to formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perchloroethylene, or acetaldehyde in the third trimester had an increased odds of Wilmsʼ tumor per interquartile increase in concentration (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]1.28 [1.12 to 1.45], 1.10 [0.99 to 1.22], 1.09 [1.00 to 1.18], 1.25 [1.07 to 1.45], respectively). CONCLUSIONS:We found positive associations for four air toxics. This is the first study of this kind. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings.