Congenital anomalies associated with oil and gas development and resource extraction: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Texas.

Background: Oil and gas extraction-related activities produce air and water pollution that contains known and suspected teratogens. To date, health impacts of in utero exposure to these activities is largely unknown.

Objective: We investigated associations between in utero exposure to oil and gas extraction activity in Texas, one of the highest producers of oil and gas, and congenital anomalies.

Sex differences in associations between birth characteristics and childhood cancers: a five-state registry-linkage study.

Background: There is a well-recognized male excess in childhood cancer incidence; however, it is unclear whether there is etiologic heterogeneity by sex when defined by epidemiologic risk factors.

Methods: Using a 5-state registry-linkage study (cases n = 16,411; controls n = 69,816), we estimated sex-stratified odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) between birth and demographic characteristics for 16 pediatric cancers. Evidence of statistical interaction (p-interaction < 0.

Associations between Residential Proximity to Oil and Gas Drilling and Term Birth Weight and Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants in Texas: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis.

Background: Oil and natural gas extraction may produce environmental pollution at levels that affect reproductive health of nearby populations. Available studies have primarily focused on unconventional gas drilling and have not accounted for local population changes that can coincide with drilling activity.

Objective: Our study sought to examine associations between residential proximity to oil and gas drilling and adverse term birth outcomes using a difference-in-differences study design.

Association Between Birth Defects and Cancer Risk Among Children and Adolescents in a Population-Based Assessment of 10 Million Live Births.

Importance: Birth defects affect approximately 1 in 33 children. Some birth defects are known to be strongly associated with childhood cancer (eg, trisomy 21 and acute leukemia). However, comprehensive evaluations of childhood cancer risk in those with birth defects have been limited in previous studies by insufficient sample sizes.

Associations between multiple green space measures and birth weight across two US cities.

Introduction: Several measures of green space exposure have been used in epidemiological research, but their relevance to health, and representation of exposure pathways, remains unclear. Here we examine the relationships between multiple urban green space metrics and associations with term birth weight across two diverse US cities.

Methods: We used Vital Statistics data to create a birth cohort from 2005 to 2009 in the cities of Portland, Oregon (n = 90,265) and Austin, Texas (n = 88,807).

Childhood cancer risk in those with chromosomal and non-chromosomal congenital anomalies in Washington State: 1984-2013.

Background: The presence of a congenital anomaly is associated with increased childhood cancer risk, likely due to large effects of Down syndrome and chromosomal anomalies for leukemia. Less is known about associations with presence of non-chromosomal anomalies.

Methods: Records of children diagnosed with cancer at <20 years of age during 1984-2013 in Washington State cancer registries were linked to their birth certificates (N = 4,105).

Evaluation of maternal health and labor and delivery conditions as risk factors for childhood leukemias in children with Down syndrome.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a remarkably high risk of developing leukemia during childhood; the mechanisms driving that risk are not well understood, and no clear prevention strategies exist. We conducted a nested case-control study in a Texas DS birth cohort to investigate possible links between maternal health, labor/delivery conditions, and leukemia risk. For most of the factors studied there was no evidence of an increased risk of total leukemias, or the subtypes acute lymphoid or acute myeloid leukemia.

Infant birthweight and risk of childhood cancer: international population-based case control studies of 40 000 cases.

Background: High birthweight is an established risk factor for childhood leukaemia. Its association with other childhood cancers is less clear, with studies hampered by low case numbers.

Methods: We used two large independent datasets to explore risk associations between birthweight and all subtypes of childhood cancer.

Are children with birth defects at higher risk of childhood cancers?

Birth defects may influence the risk of childhood cancer development through a variety of mechanisms. The rarity of both birth defects and childhood cancers makes it challenging to study these associations, particularly for the very rare instances of each. To address this limitation, the authors conducted a record linkage-based cohort study among Texas children born between 1996 and 2005.

Birth order and risk of childhood cancer: a pooled analysis from five US States.

The causes of childhood cancers are largely unknown. Birth order has been used as a proxy for prenatal and postnatal exposures, such as frequency of infections and in utero hormone exposures. We investigated the association between birth order and childhood cancers in a pooled case-control dataset.

Childhood cancer in relation to parental race and ethnicity: a 5-state pooled analysis.

Background: Children of different racial/ethnic backgrounds have varying risks of cancer. However, to the authors' knowledge, few studies to date have examined cancer occurrence in children of mixed ancestry.

Methods: This population-based case-control study examined cancer among children aged <15 years using linked cancer and birth registry data from 5 US states from 1978 through 2004.

Occurrence of conotruncal heart birth defects in Texas: a comparison of urban/rural classifications.

Purpose: (1) Determine if there is an association between 3 conotruncal heart birth defects and urban/rural residence of mother. (2) Compare results using different methods of measuring urban/rural status.

Methods: Data were taken from the Texas Birth Defects Registry, 1999-2003.

Risks of childhood cancer among Texas watersheds, based on mothers' living locations at the time of birth.

Cancer is the most common fatal disease among US children. The fetus has reduced resistance to toxic injury and is especially prone to mutagenic injury because of the high rate of cell division. A fetus can be exposed to environmental toxins through maternal consumption of contaminated water.

Urban-rural residence and the occurrence of cleft lip and cleft palate in Texas, 1999-2003.

Purpose: The etiology of orofacial clefts is complex and relatively unknown. Variation in cleft lip with or without palate (CLP) and cleft palate alone (CP) was examined in Texas across urban-rural residence (1999 to 2003).

Methods: Cases came from the Texas Birth Defects Registry (1,949 CLP and 1,054 CP) and denominator data came from vital records (254 counties; 1,827,317 live births).

Cancer risk among children with very low birth weights.

Objective: The risk of hepatoblastoma is strongly increased among children with very low birth weight (<1500 g). Because data on very low birth weight and other childhood cancers are sparse, we examined the risk of malignancy with very low birth weight in a large data set.

Methods: We combined case-control data sets created by linking the cancer and birth registries of California, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Washington states, which included 17672 children diagnosed as having cancer at 0 to 14 years of age and 57966 randomly selected control subjects.

Parental age and risk of childhood cancer: a pooled analysis.

Background: Few risk factors for childhood cancer are well-established. We investigated whether advancing parental age increases childhood cancer risk.

Methods: We assessed the relationship between parental age and childhood cancer in a case-control study using pooled population-based data.

Urban versus rural residence and occurrence of septal heart defects in Texas.

Background: There is conflicting information on the association between urban/rural residence of mothers and atrial septal defect (ASD) or ventricular septal defect (VSD) in their offspring. Few studies have compared multiple measures of urban/rural residence.

Methods: Data were taken from the Texas Birth Defects Registry, 1999-2003.

Childhood cancer among twins and higher order multiples.

Although several studies have found no change or a decreased risk of childhood cancer in twins, few have controlled for potential confounders such as birth weight. We examined the association of birth plurality and childhood cancer in pooled data from five U.S.

Geographic risk modeling of childhood cancer relative to county-level crops, hazardous air pollutants and population density characteristics in Texas.

Background: Childhood cancer has been linked to a variety of environmental factors, including agricultural activities, industrial pollutants and population mixing, but etiologic studies have often been inconclusive or inconsistent when considering specific cancer types. More specific exposure assessments are needed. It would be helpful to optimize future studies to incorporate knowledge of high-risk locations or geographic risk patterns.

Reproductive factors and hormone use and risk of adult gliomas.

Previous research suggests there may be a hormonal influence on glioma risk as evidenced by lower rates in females, change in incidence rates around ages at menarche and menopause, and presence of hormone receptors in glial tumors. Using the large San Francisco Bay Area Adult Glioma Study, we investigated whether reported reproductive factors and hormone use were associated with gliomas overall or with histologic subtypes among female cases (n = 619) and controls (n = 650). We found that reproductive factors were generally not associated with gliomas.

Agricultural pesticides and risk of childhood cancers.

Agricultural pesticide applications have the potential for significant drift beyond the target spray area and may result in exposure to non-farming residents in surrounding communities. Using geographic information system (GIS) methods, 1778 childhood cancer cases and 1802 controls born in Texas between 1990 and 1998 were assigned probable agricultural pesticide exposure based on proximity of birth residence to crop fields. Multivariate modeling was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for selected cancers.

Risk of childhood cancers associated with residence in agriculturally intense areas in the United States.

Background: The potential for widespread exposure to agricultural pesticides through drift during application raises concerns about possible health effects to exposed children living in areas of high agricultural activity.

Objectives: We evaluated whether residence in a county with greater agricultural activity was associated with risk of developing cancer in children < 15 years of age.

Methods: Incidence data for U.

DNA repair polymorphisms XRCC1 and MGMT and risk of adult gliomas.

X-ray cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) are pivotal repair genes focused on repairing lesions due to ionizing radiation, alkylating agents, and oxidative DNA damage, risk factors previously linked to gliomas. Using the population based San Francisco Adult Glioma study, we evaluated associations between XRCC1 Arg399Gln, MGMT Leu84Phe, and MGMT Ile143Val polymorphisms with glioma risk among white cases (n = 441 to 453) and controls (n = 487 to 526). We found no evidence of an association between XRCC1 genotypes and glioma.