Exposures from oil and gas development and childhood leukemia risk in Colorado: A population-based case-control study
Menée à l'aide de données portant sur 3 157 enfants nés au Colorado entre 1992 et 2019 et dont 451 sont atteints d'une leucémie lymphoblastique aiguë, cette étude analyse le risque leucémogène en fonction de l'exposition aux activités pétrolière et gazière (distance et intensité)
Background: Children living in upstream oil and natural gas (O&G) areas may be exposed to leukemogens and at increased risk for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
Methods: We conducted a case-control study of children born in Colorado between 1992 and 2019. We matched 451 children diagnosed with ALL at age 2-9 years starting in 2002 to 2706 controls on birth month/year and Hispanic ethnicity. We estimated upstream O&G activity intensities from conception through a 10-year latency with our intensity adjusted inverse distance weighted (IA-IDW) model. We applied logistic regression models adjusted for confounders to evaluate associations between ALL and IA-IDW.
Results:For children within 5 km of an O&G well site, we observed a 62% (OR= 1.62, 95% CL:0.964, 2.62), 84% (OR = 1.84, 95% CL: 1.35 -2.48) and 100% (OR = 2.00, 95% CL: 1.14 -3.37) increase in ALL risk for low, medium, and high IA-IDW groups, compared to the referent group. Within 13 km, we observed a 59% (OR= 1.59, 95% CL:1.03, 2.37), 40% (OR = 1.40, 95% CL: 1.09 -1.80) and 164% (OR = 2.64, 95% CL: 1.80 -3.86) increase in ALL risk for low, medium, and high IA-IDW groups.
Conclusions: Colorado’s children living within 13 km of O&G well sites are at increased risk for ALL, with children within 5 km bearing the greatest risk. Current setbacks between O&G well sites and residences may not be sufficient to protect the health of these children.
Impact: Our results can be applied to policies to reduce childhood leukemogen exposures.