Childhood Leukemia in Small Geographical Areas and Proximity to Industrial Sources of Air Pollutants in Three Colombian Cities

Laura Andrea Rodriguez-Villamizar, Feisar Enrique Moreno-Corzo, Ana María Valbuena-Garcia, Claudia Janeth Uribe Pérez, Mary Ruth Brome Bohórquez, Héctor Iván García García, Luis Eduardo Bravo, Rafael Gustavo Ortiz Martínez, Jürg Niederbacher Velásquez and Alvaro R. Osornio-Vargas
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Laura Andrea Rodriguez-Villamizar: Department of Public Health, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia
Feisar Enrique Moreno-Corzo: Public Health Observatory of Santander, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Floridablanca 681003, Colombia
Ana María Valbuena-Garcia: Department of Public Health, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia
Claudia Janeth Uribe Pérez: Population Based Cancer Registry of the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga 681003, Colombia
Mary Ruth Brome Bohórquez: Population Based Cancer Registry of Antioquia, Gobernación de Antioquia, Medellín 050015, Colombia
Héctor Iván García García: Cancer Institute Las Américas, Medellín 050022, Colombia
Luis Eduardo Bravo: Population Based Cancer Registry of Cali, Universidad del Valle, Cali 760043, Colombia
Rafael Gustavo Ortiz Martínez: Public Health Observatory of Santander, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Floridablanca 681003, Colombia
Jürg Niederbacher Velásquez: Department of Pediatrics, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga 68002, Colombia
Alvaro R. Osornio-Vargas: Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: Acute leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and has been associated with exposure to environmental carcinogens. This study aimed to identify clusters of acute childhood leukemia (ACL) cases and analyze their relationship with proximity to industrial sources of air pollution in three capital cities in Colombia during 2000–2015. Incident ACL cases were obtained from the population cancer registries for the cities of Bucaramanga, Cali, and Medellín. The inventory of industrial sources of emissions to the air was obtained from the regional environmental authorities and industrial conglomerates were identified. The Kulldorf’s circular scan test was used to detect city clusters and to identify clusters around industrial conglomerates. Multivariable spatial modeling assessed the effect of distance and direction from the industrial conglomerates controlling for socioeconomic status. We identified industrials sectors within a buffer of 1 km around industrial conglomerates related to the ACL clusters. Incidence rates showed geographical heterogeneity with low spatial autocorrelation within cities. The spatio-temporal tests identified one cluster in each city. The industries located within 1 km around the ACL clusters identified in the three cities represent different sectors. Exposure to air pollution from industrial sources might be contributing to the incidence of ACL cases in urban settings in Colombia.

Keywords: leukemia; childhood; cluster analysis; air pollution; industrial pollution; Colombia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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