Livestock and Poultry Density and Childhood Cancer Incidence in Nine States in the USA

Details

• Personal Author:
  Booth BJ ; Freels S ; Jones RR ; Patel DM ; Stayner, Leslie T. ; Turyk ME ; Ward MH
• Description:
  Background: Parental occupational and childhood exposures to farm animals have been positively associated with childhood brain tumors, whereas associations with childhood leukemia are equivocal. The developing immune system may be influenced by allergen, virus, or other exposures from animal sources, which may contribute to childhood cancer incidence. Methods: Incident cancers (acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL], acute myeloid leukemia [AML], central nervous system [CNS], peripheral nervous system [PNS]) for children aged 0-4 diagnosed between 2003 and 2008 were obtained from nine National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registries and were linked to U.S. Census of Agriculture data from 2002 and 2007 by county of diagnosis. Animal densities (animal units [AU]/km2; one animal unit is 1000 pounds of animal weight) were estimated for hogs, cattle, chickens (layers and broilers, separately), equine (horses, ponies, mules, burros, donkeys), goats, sheep, turkeys, and total animals. Animal density was examined in models as both continuous (AU per km2) and categorical variables (quartiles). Animal operation densities (per km2) by size of operation (cattle, hogs, chickens, sheep) were modeled continuously. Rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using Poisson regression. Results: We found positive associations between AML and broiler chicken densities (RRper 10 AU/km 2=1.14, 95% CI = 1.02-1.26). ALL rates increased with densities of hog operations (RRper operation/100 km2 = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.11). PNS cancer rates were inversely associated with layer chicken density (RRper log of AU/km 2 = 0.94, 95% CI=0.89-0.99). No association was found between any cancer type and densities of cattle, equine, or goats. Conclusions: Although limited by the ecologic study design, some of our findings are novel and should be examined in epidemiological studies with individual level data. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Animals Blood Environmental Exposure Epidemiology Family Farmers Food Handling Food Industry Livestock Neoplasms Occupational Health Safety

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural Exposures Agricultural Industry Agricultural Workers Animal Handlers Animal Husbandry Workers Author Keywords: Childhood Cancer Brain Tumors Cancer Cancer Registries Cattle Central Nervous System Children Ecological Systems Environmental Epidemiology Environmental Exposure Families Farm Animals Farm Workers Leukemogenesis Livestock Industry Peripheral Nervous System Poultry Poultry Industry Poultry Workers Surveillance

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• ISSN:
  0013-9351
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  444-451
• Volume:
  159
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053516
• Citation:
  Environ Res 2017 Nov; 159:444-451
• Contact Point Address:
  Mary H. Ward, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Dr., Room 6E138, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
• Email:
  wardm@mail.nih.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Research
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:174488d23c7126f838d6c6e89ab1b10a650c4aa95c383ceda9920161513598b7221fde75795f48095223ad6bc005365e8c3c6a93ed9e4910cf99ad60e351e1f5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216252/cdc_216252_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 183.21 KB ]