Child's Exposure To Pesticides Hikes Lymphoma Risk
Children who have been exposed to household insecticides and professional extermination methods within the home are three to seven times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with children who have not been exposed to pesticides.
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Subject: Child's Exposure To Pesticides Hikes Lymphoma Risk
Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 23:05:45 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State
of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read an article entitled: Child's Exposure To Pesticides Hikes Lymphoma Risk.</A>
http://unisci.com/stories/20004/1130005.htm
Children who have been exposed to household insecticides
and professional extermination methods within the home are three to seven
times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with children
who have not been exposed to pesticides.
These are the results of a study published in the December 1 issue of
the journal CANCER, an international publication of the American Cancer
Society.
The study indicated that a child's risk of developing NHL
was similar for both maternal exposure to pesticides during pregnancy (in
utero) and direct (postnatal) exposure to pesticides.
Significant variations in risk were associated with
various NHL morphologies. For
instance, the use of household insecticides increased the risk of
lymphoblastic lymphoma by 12.5 times.
The term "pesticides" refers to a group of ("registered")
chemicals (POISONS) that have in common their ability to kill
insects, plants, mammals (particularly rodents), or fungi.
"A limited number of these compounds may be capable
of inducing lymphoma, particularly when used around the home," comments
chief researcher Jonathan D. Buckley, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., from the Department of
Preventative Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Lymphoma, the third most common childhood malignancy,
occurs at a rate of 21.7 per million in children age < 15 years.
Approximately 60% of these cases are NHL.
In the current study, the Children's Cancer Group
evaluated the correlation between home pesticide use or occupational exposure
to pesticides and the incidence of NHL in a pediatric study sample.
The study included children and adolescents age < 20
years who were diagnosed with NHL between February 1986 and June 1990. Tumors
were classified according to cell type (predominantly B-cell or T-cell).
Telephone interviews with the participants' mothers
included questions regarding occupational and home exposure to pesticides
around the time of pregnancy and direct exposure of the child to pesticides.
From a total of 268 NHL pediatric cases examined, 49 of
the patients had lymphomatous leukemia, whereas the other 218 patients were
diagnosed with various NHL morphologies, including lymphoblastic subtype
(38%), Burkitt lymphoma (28%), undifferentiated (non-Burkitt) lymphoma (12%),
and large-cell NHL (19%).
Frequency of household insecticide use by the mothers
around the time of the pregnancy (in utero) was associated with a 2.62-fold
greater risk of NHL for limited applications (1-2 days per week), compared
with a 7.33-fold greater risk for regular use (on most days).
Professional home extermination was related to a
3-fold greater risk for developing NHL. Direct (postnatal) exposure of the
child to pesticides was associated with a 2.4-fold greater risk, whereas
occupational exposure and the use of pesticide sprays in the garden
demonstrated an increased risk, although
not statistically significant.
When the researchers focused their analysis on the
association between different types of pesticide exposure and the development
of different NHL morphologies,
they observed the risk for developing lymphoblastic lymphoma was 12.5 times
greater after a child's exposure to household insecticide use.
The risk of developing Burkitt lymphoma was observed
to be 9.6 times greater after occupational exposure to pesticides. The risk
for developing large cell lymphoma or Burkitt lymphoma was 6.7 and 8.0 times
higher, respectively, after professional insect extermination.
The authors note that the most statistically
significant correlation between exposure
to pesticides and the risk for developing NHL were observed for those children
who were directly exposed to pesticides.
The risk for developing lymphoblastic subtype lymphoma
and large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was 10.9 times and 6.5 times greater,
respectively, for these children compared with children who have not been
exposed to pesticides.
The researchers also noted a 7.1 times greater risk
for Burkitt lymphoma among these children. Overall elevations in the risk
associated with pesticide exposure were present for both the younger (age <
6 years) and older (age > 6 years) study participants.
Due to the small number of cases studied and the
difficulties in accurately determining the duration and intensity of pesticide
exposure, the investigators stress that the findings of this study should be
interpreted with caution, and should be further examined in subsequent studies
involving larger study samples.
(Reference: "Pesticide Exposures in Children with
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma," Jonathan D Buckley, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Anna T.
Meadows, M.D., Marshall E. Kadin, M.D, Michelle M. Le Beau, Ph.D., Stuart
Siegel, M.D., and Leslie L. Robison, Ph.D., CANCER 2000; 89:11.)
Well Mr. Helliker,
How much longer do you think should we should "study" the
dangerous effects and problems that your "registered" POISONS cause
"non-target species" before we realize that all of your
"registered", synthetic POISONS are specifically designed to KILL
and therefore really not all that "healthy" for people and pets?
The sad thing is there are many safe and far more effective
(unregistered) alternatives - when will they be 'legal" in California?