Domestic radon exposure and risk of childhood leukemia: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis evaluated the potential influence of environmental radon exposure on childhood leukemia.

We searched comprehensive electronic databases from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library to identify studies evaluating the association between radon and leukemia.

Ten eligible studies published from 1995 to 2014 were enrolled. Of these 10 studies, 8 were case-control studies (involving 10803 cases and 16202 controls) and 2 were cohort studies (involving 1,428 cases). Overall results as odds ratio (OR) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for case-control studies and fully adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with corresponding 95%CI for cohort studies were identified. A positive but weak association was found between radon exposure and childhood leukemia in case-control studies (summary OR 1.22, 95%CI 1.01-1.42) rather than cohort studies (summary HR 0.97, 95%CI 0.81-1.15). Heterogeneity or publication bias was not observed. Moreover, overall ORs were not changed by removing any single study, suggesting the stability and reliability of conclusions.

Future prospective studies with well-controlled confounders are needed to verify the conclusion.