Residential proximity to oil and gas developments and childhood cancer survival

BackgroundEnvironmental toxicants may impact survival in children with cancer, but the literature investigating these associations remains limited. Because oil and gas developments emit several hazardous air pollutants, the authors evaluated the relationship between residential proximity to oil or gas development and survival across 21 different pediatric cancers.MethodsThe Texas Cancer Registry had 29,730 children (<= 19 years old) diagnosed with a primary cancer between 1995 to 2017. Geocoded data were available for 285,266 active oil or gas wells and 109,965 horizontal wells. The authors calculated whether each case lived within 1000 m (yes/no) from each type of oil or gas development. Survival analyses were conducted using Cox regression, adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsA total of 14.2% of cases lived within 1000 m of an oil or gas well or horizontal well. Living within 1000 m of an oil or gas well was associated with risk of mortality in cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.84) and hepatoblastoma (aHR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.03-4.39). An inverse association was observed with Ewing sarcoma (aHR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.13-0.95). No associations were observed with horizontal well. There was evidence of a dose-response effect in children with AML or hepatoblastoma and residential proximity to oil or gas wells. In general, the magnitude of association increased with decreasing distance and with higher number of wells across the three distances.ConclusionsResidential proximity to oil or gas wells at diagnosis is associated with the risk of mortality in children with AML or hepatoblastoma. Children diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia or hepatoblastoma have lower 5-year survival if they lived near an oil or gas well at the time of diagnosis compared to those who did not. image