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Topic: RSS FeedChildhood cancer incidence rates and hazardous air pollutants in California: an exploratory analysis - Children's Health
Environmental Health Perspectives, April, 2003 by Peggy Reynolds, Julie Von Behren, Robert B. Gunier, Debbie E. Goldberg, Andrew Hertz, Daniel F. Smith
Table 1. Carcinogenic properties of hazardous air
pollutants in the combined source group.
Chemical name Cancer class (a) Unit risk factor (b)
Acetaldehyde B 2.7 x [10.sup.-6]
Acrylamide B 1.3 x [10.sup.-3]
Acrylonitrile B 2.9 x [10.sup.-4]
Benzene A 2.9 x [10.sup.-5]
Bromoform B 1.1 x [10.sup.-6]
1,3-Butadiene B 1.7 x [10.sup.-4]
Carbon tetrachloride B 4.2 x [10.sup.-5]
Chloroform B 5.3 x [10.sup.-6]
1,3-Dichloropropene B 1.2 x [10.sup.-5]
Dioxins B 3.8 x [10.sup.-2]
Ethylene dibromide B 7.1 x [10.sup.-5]
Ethylene dichloride B 2.2 x [10.sup.-5]
Formaldehyde B 6.0 x [10.sup.-6]
Hexachlorobenzene B 5.1 x [10.sup.-4]
Hexachloroethane C 1.1 x [10.sup.-5]
Hydrazine B 4.9 x [10.sup.-3]
Lindane B 3.1 x [10.sup.-4]
Methyl chloride C 1.8 x [10.sup.-6]
Methylene chloride B 1.0 x [10.sup.-6]
Polychlorinated biphenyls B 2.2 x [10.sup.-3]
Propylene oxide B 3.7 x [10.sup.-6]
Tetrachloroethylene B 5.9 x [10.sup.-6]
1,1,2-Trichloroethane C 2.1 x [10.sup.-6]
Trichloroethylene C 2.0 x [10.sup.-6]
Vinyl chloride A 7.8 x [10.sup.-5]
(a) Weight of evidence for human carcinogenicity: class A
(known), class B (probable), and class C (possible) (U.S.
EPA 1999). (b) The inhalation unit risk factor is the estimated
cancer risk per million persons per pg/[m.sup.3]; values were
obtained from Cal/EPA 0EHHA (1997) and the U.S. EPA
(1999).
Table 2. Spearman rank correlation coefficients
for exposure scores among hazardous air pollutants
emitted primarily from mobile sources in California
census tracts.
Chemical name Benzene Butadiene Formaldehyde
Acetaldehyde 0.90 0.83 0.97
Benzene 1.00 0.91 0.90
Butadiene - 1.00 0.89
Table 3. Numbers of childhood cancer cases in California, newly
diagnosed between 1988 and 1994, with geocodable address at
diagnosis, by age, race/ethnicity, and sex.
All sites Leukemias Gliomas
Characteristics No. Percent No. Percent No. Percent
Age group
0-4 years 3,515 50 1,351 55 604 45
5-9 years 1,752 25 673 27 421 31
10-14 years 1,721 25 419 17 326 24
Race/ethnicity
African American 492 7 108 4 114 8
Hispanic 2,535 36 1,013 41 390 29
Asian, Native
American, other 694 10 262 11 117 9
Non-Hispanic white 3,268 47 1,060 44 730 54
Sex
Male 3,809 55 1,349 55 733 54
Female 3,179 45 1,094 45 618 46
Totals 6,989 100 2,443 100 1,351 100
Table 4. Childhood cancer RRs (a) for census tract HAP exposure scores.
Census
Emission source tracts
Combined (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-64) 1,320
25th-74th (65-188) 2,862
75th-89th (189-244) 866
[greater than or equal to]
90th (245-1,543) 538
Mobile (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-43) 1,312
25th-74th (44-134) 2,861
75th-89th (135-172) 865
[greater than or equal to]
90th (173-887) 548
Area (percentiles of exposure
score)
1st-24th (1-14) 1,345
25th-74th (15-46) 2,854
75th-89th (47-65) 859
[greater than or equal to]
90th (66-761) 528
Point (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (0-0.22) 1,277
25th-74th (0.23-4.2) 2,882
75th-89th (4.3-8.1) 861
[greater than or equal to]
90th (8.2-180.8) 566
All sites
Emission source No. cases RR 95% CI
Combined (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-64) 1,795 Ref -
25th-74th (65-188) 3,405 1.04 (0.98-1.09)
75th-89th (189-244) 1,093 1.06 (0.98-1.14)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (245-1,543) 696 1.06 (0.97-1.16)
Mobile (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-43) 1,756 Ref -
25th-74th (44-134) 3,517 1.05 (0.99-1.11)
75th-89th (135-172) 1,046 1.00 (0.92-1.08)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (173-887) 670 1.04 (0.95-1.14)
Area (percentiles of exposure
score)
1st-24th (1-14) 1,892 Ref -
25th-74th (15-46) 3,265 1.00 (0.95-1.06)
75th-89th (47-65) 1,182 1.05 (0.97-1.13)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (66-761) 650 0.99 (0.90-1.09)
Point (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (0-0.22) 1,572 Ref -
25th-74th (0.23-4.2) 3,606 1.08 (1.01-1.14)
75th-89th (4.3-8.1) 1,014 1.07 (0.99-1.16)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (8.2-180.8) 797 1.13 (1.03-1.23)
p < 0.05 (b)
Leukemias
Emission source No. cases RR 95% CI
Combined (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-64) 586 Ref -
25th-74th (65-188) 1,194 1.10 (0.99-1.23)
75th-89th (189-244) 386 1.11 (0.96-1.28)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (245-1,543) 277 1.21 (1.03-1.42)
p < 0.05 (b)
Mobile (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-43) 573 Ref -
25th-74th (44-134) 1,246 1.13 (1.00-1.27)
75th-89th (135-172) 360 1.01 (0.86-1.19)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (173-887) 264 1.18 (0.98-1.41
Area (percentiles of exposure
score)
1st-24th (1-14) 616 Ref -
25th-74th (15-46) 1,154 1.08 (0.97-1.20)
75th-89th (47-65) 411 1.08 (0.94-1.25)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (66-761) 262 1.16 (0.99-1.37)
Point (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (0-0.22) 524 Ref -
25th-74th (0.23-4.2) 1,243 1.11 (0.98-1.26)
75th-89th (4.3-8.1) 363 1.12 (0.96-1.32)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (8.2-180.8) 313 1.32 (1.11-1.57)
p < 0.05 (b)
Gliomas
Emission source No. cases RR 95% CI
Combined (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-64) 373 Ref -
25th-74th (65-188) 651 0.99 (0.87-1.12)
75th-89th (189-244) 212 1.10 (0.93-1.29)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (245-1,543) 115 0.98 (0.80-1.21)
Mobile (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (1-43) 364 Ref -
25th-74th (44-134) 674 1.01 (0.89-1.15)
75th-89th (135-172) 195 1.01 (0.84-1.21)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (173-887) 118 1.02 (0.83-1.26)
Area (percentiles of exposure
score)
1st-24th (1-14) 381 Ref -
25th-74th (15-46) 647 1.02 (0.89-1.17)
75th-89th (47-65) 205 1.01 (0.83-1.22)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (66-761) 118 1.00 (0.80-1.26)
Point (percentiles of
exposure score)
1st-24th (0-0.22) 323 Ref -
25th-74th (0.23-4.2) 689 1.02 (0.89-1.17)
75th-89th (4.3-8.1) 182 1.00 (0.83-1.22)
[greater than or equal to]
90th (8.2-180.8) 157 1.19 (0.96-1.46)
Ref, reference group.
(a) Adjusted for age group, race/ethnicity, and sex.
(b) Test for trend.
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