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Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study

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Abstract

Children living near highways are exposed to higher concentrations of traffic-related carcinogenic pollutants. Several studies reported an increased risk of childhood cancer associated with traffic exposure, but the published evidence is inconclusive. We investigated whether cancer risk is associated with proximity of residence to highways in a nation-wide cohort study including all children aged <16 years from Swiss national censuses in 1990 and 2000. Cancer incidence was investigated in time to event analyses (1990–2008) using Cox proportional hazards models and incidence density analyses (1985–2008) using Poisson regression. Adjustments were made for socio-economic factors, ionising background radiation and electromagnetic fields. In time to event analysis based on 532 cases the adjusted hazard ratio for leukaemia comparing children living <100 m from a highway with unexposed children (≥500 m) was 1.43 (95 % CI 0.79, 2.61). Results were similar in incidence density analysis including 1367 leukaemia cases (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.57; 95 % CI 1.09, 2.25). Associations were similar for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (IRR 1.64; 95 % CI 1.10, 2.43) and stronger for leukaemia in children aged <5 years (IRR 1.92; 95 % CI 1.22, 3.04). Little evidence of association was found for other tumours. Our study suggests that young children living close to highways are at increased risk of developing leukaemia.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Christian Kreis for his assistance in calculating distance to highways and creating the map. This work was supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (Grants 08.001616, 10.002946, 12.008357), Swiss Cancer League (Grant 02224-03-2008), and Swiss Cancer Research (Grants 3049-08-2012, 3515-08-2014). BD Spycher was supported by a Swiss National Science Foundation fellowship (PZ00P3_147987). The work of the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry is supported by the Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group (www.spog.ch), Schweizerische Konferenz der kantonalen Gesundheitsdirektorinnen und –direktoren (www.gdk-cds.ch), Swiss Cancer Research (www.krebsforschung.ch), Kinderkrebshilfe Schweiz (www.kinderkrebshilfe.ch), Ernst-Göhner Stiftung, Stiftung Domarena and National Institute of Cancer Epidemiology and Registration (www.nicer.ch).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern, Finkenhubelweg 11, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Ben D. Spycher, Martin Feller, Matthias Egger & Claudia E. Kuehni

  2. Department of General Internal Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland

    Martin Feller

  3. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland

    Martin Röösli

  4. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Martin Röösli

  5. Department of Paediatrics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Roland A. Ammann

  6. Paediatric Hemato-Oncology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland

    Manuel Diezi

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  1. Ben D. Spycher
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Correspondence to Ben D. Spycher.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Approval of the study was granted through the general cancer registry permission of the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry by the ethics committee of the canton of Bern.

Additional information

The Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group and the Swiss National Cohort Study Group. Members of study groups in “Appendix”.

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Appendix: Members of study groups

Appendix: Members of study groups

The members of the Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group Scientific Committee: R. A. Ammann (Bern), R. Angst (Aarau), M. Ansari (Geneva), M. Beck Popovic (Lausanne), E. Bergstraesser (Zurich), P. Brazzola (Bellinzona), J. Greiner (St. Gallen), M. Grotzer (Zurich), H. Hengartner (St. Gallen), T. Kuehne (Basel), K. Leibundgut (Bern), F. Niggli (Zurich), J. Rischewski (Lucerne), N. von der Weid (Basel).

The members of the Swiss National Cohort Study Group: M. Egger (Bern), M. Bopp (Zurich), M. Puhan (Zurich), A. Spoerri (Bern), M. Zwahlen (Bern), N. Künzli (Basel), F. Paccaud (Lausanne), M. Oris (Geneva).

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Spycher, B.D., Feller, M., Röösli, M. et al. Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study. Eur J Epidemiol 30, 1263–1275 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0091-9

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