Mobile source benzene regulations and risk of childhood and young adult hematologic cancers in Alaska: a quasi-experimental study
Menée en Alaska à partir de données 2001-2018, cette étude analyse l'association entre la mise en place en 2011 d'une politique gouvernementale régulant les émissions de benzène et l'évolution de l'incidence des cancers hématologiques chez l'enfant et l'adulte
Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of the EPA’s Mobile Source Air Toxics rules (MSAT), which targeted benzene emissions, on childhood and young adult leukemia and lymphoma incidence in Alaska. Methods: MSAT was implemented in 2011 and produced a dramatic decline in ambient benzene in Alaska. Due to previous benzene-related regulations enacted in the continental US, MSAT had relatively modest impacts in other states. This created quasi-experimental conditions leveraged in this study. Using 2-year state-level incidence rates of childhood and young adult leukemia and lymphoma for each US state 2001-2018, we examined MSAT-attributable changes in incidence by applying a difference-in-differences approach. Results: We found evidence of a substantial reduction associated with MSAT in incidence of childhood and young adult lymphoma (-1.23 [-1.84, -0.62] cases per 100,000), but not in leukemia (-0.13 [-0.77, 0.51] cases per 100,000). Conclusions: Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that MSAT, which reduced benzene levels in Alaska, led to a decline in lymphoma incidence in children and young adults.
Epidemiology 2023