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Residential cancer cluster investigation nearby a Superfund Study Area with trichloroethylene contamination

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Abstract

Purpose

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an industrial solvent associated with liver cancer, kidney cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). It is unclear whether an excess of TCE-associated cancers have occurred surrounding the Middlefield–Ellis–Whisman Superfund site in Mountain View, California. We conducted a population-based cancer cluster investigation comparing the incidence of NHL, liver, and kidney cancers in the neighborhood of interest to the incidence among residents in the surrounding four-county region.

Methods

Case counts and address information were obtained using routinely collected data from the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry, part of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. Population denominators were obtained from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 US censuses. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with two-sided 99 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for time intervals surrounding the US Censuses.

Results

There were no statistically significant differences between the neighborhood of interest and the larger region for cancers of the liver or kidney. A statistically significant elevation was observed for NHL during one of the three time periods evaluated (1996–2005: SIR = 1.8, 99 % CI 1.1–2.8). No statistically significant NHL elevation existed in the earlier 1988–1995 (SIR = 1.3, 99 % CI 0.5–2.6) or later 2006–2011 (SIR = 1.3, 99 % CI 0.6–2.4) periods.

Conclusion

There is no evidence of an increased incidence of liver or kidney cancer, and there is a lack of evidence of a consistent, sustained, or more recent elevation in NHL occurrence in this neighborhood. This evaluation included existing cancer registry data, which cannot speak to specific exposures incurred by past or current residents of this neighborhood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Daphne Lichtensztajn for support with data analysis.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program under contract HHSN261201000140C awarded to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC). The collection of cancer incidence data was supported by the California Department of Health Services as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; the NCI SEER program under contracts HHSN261201000140C awarded to CPIC, HHSN261201000035C to the University of Southern California, and HHSN261201000034C to the Public Health Institute; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries, under agreement 1U58 DP000807-01 awarded to the Public Health Institute.

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Author notes

  1. David J. Press

    Present address: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Ave, Rm. R-214, MC2000, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Prevention Institute of California, 2201 Walnut Ave, Suite 300, Fremont, CA, 94538, USA

    David J. Press, Meg McKinley, Christina A. Clarke & Scarlett Lin Gomez

  2. University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St, Suite 305, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA

    David J. Press & Dennis Deapen

  3. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305-5405, USA

    Christina A. Clarke & Scarlett Lin Gomez

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  1. David J. Press
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Correspondence to David J. Press.

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Press, D.J., McKinley, M., Deapen, D. et al. Residential cancer cluster investigation nearby a Superfund Study Area with trichloroethylene contamination. Cancer Causes Control 27, 607–613 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-016-0734-5

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