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Geographic studies of pediatric cancer near hazardous waste sites

E White1, T E Aldrich

  • 1North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, Chapel Hill, USA.

Archives of Environmental Health
|January 14, 2000
PubMed

Insights

This study investigated pediatric cancer rates near hazardous waste sites in North Carolina. No overall increase was found, but two ZIP codes showed higher cancer incidence, warranting further environmental health research.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental epidemiology
  • Pediatric oncology
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Background:

  • Concerns exist regarding potential health impacts of National Priorities List (NPL) hazardous-waste sites.
  • Assessing cancer incidence in pediatric populations near such sites requires precise spatial analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if pediatric cancer incidence is elevated in North Carolina counties and ZIP codes with NPL hazardous-waste sites.
  • To explore the utility of GIS in mapping and analyzing environmental health data.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized geographic information systems (GIS) to map pediatric cancer cases (ages 0-17) from 1990-1993.
  • Analyzed cancer incidence rates in relation to NPL hazardous-waste site locations at county and ZIP-code levels.
  • Investigated proximity of cancer cases to hazardous-waste sites using a 1.6-km buffer zone.

Main Results:

  • No statistically significant elevation in pediatric cancer incidence was observed at the county level.
  • Two specific ZIP-code areas exhibited statistically significant increases in cancer incidence (p < .05).
  • Only three mapped pediatric cancer cases were within 1.6 km of an NPL site, and these were not in the identified high-incidence ZIP codes.

Conclusions:

  • The study found no widespread elevated pediatric cancer rates near hazardous-waste sites in North Carolina.
  • Identified localized ZIP-code areas with increased incidence suggest potential environmental factors requiring further investigation.
  • The exploratory nature of this research highlights the need for more in-depth environmental health studies and specific exposure investigations.

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