Researchers, writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, say that there appears to be a correlation between the use of household insecticides and the risk of childhood leukemia. The research, conducted by French scientists, looked at 280 children who were newly diagnosed with acute leukemia, and a further 288 children free of the disease, who were control subjects.
The mothers of the children took part in detailed surveys that probed the employment history of both parents, the use of insecticides in the home and garden, and the use of insecticidal shampoos to eradicate head lice.
The researchers found that the risk of developing acute leukemia was almost twice as likely in children whose mothers said that they had used insecticides in the home while pregnant and, more worryingly, long after the birth.
Additionally, exposure to garden insecticides and fungicides as a child was associated with a more than doubling of the risk of acute childhood leukemia. And the use of insecticidal shampoos to eradicate head lice was associated with almost double the risk.
The authors were cautious in reading too much into the results, saying that no one agent can be singled out, and a causal relation between insecticides and the development of acute childhood leukemia "remains questionable." But they did sound a note of warning, saying, "the consistency of our results and the results from previous studies suggests that it may be opportune to consider preventive action."
Source: BMJ Specialty Journals
