Agricultural exposures and childhood cancers

Cancers occurring in children are rare but tragic occurrences. Sadly, the causes of these events are poorly understood, and because of their rarity, also difficult to study. Because, with a few exceptions, there are not well established causal genetic or behavioral factors for these diseases it is not surprising that impacted families and communities have concerns about the potential role of ambient exposures in the physical environment. Although a number of fledgling studies have begun to systematically evaluate potential risks proximity to agricultural pesticide use, challenges posed by balancing the interplay of exposure mechanisms, host susceptibility, scale, and timing make this a daunting task. Future progress will require support for leveraging large and heterogeneous population studies, assembling transdisciplinary investigative teams, and for promoting creative research strategies. Such efforts will be informative for studying a host of health risks for both adults and children. In the meantime, regulatory actions such as requiring pre-market testing of new chemical compounds used in agriculture for potential adverse health effects and minimizing exposure opportunities for children and women of childbearing age to agents with known toxic properties would be a prudent course of action. We owe it to our children and our future to seriously address these issues.