Abstract
One of the causes of acute leukemia can be exposure to certain chemicals such as pesticides. This study determined the relationship between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of acute leukemia in Fars province, south of Iran. Between April 2011 and April 2013 in a case-control study conducted in Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, Southern Iran; 314 subjects diagnosed with acute leukemia (94 pediatric cases and 220 adults) were enrolled to determine any correlation between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence. Controls (n=314) were matched by sex and age. There was a history of exposure to pesticides among 85% of pediatric cases and 69% of their controls and 83% of adult cases and 75% of their controls while 87.5% of pediatric cases and 90% of adult cases reported exposure to intermediate and high doses of pesticides and among the controls, the exposure to low doses of pesticides was 70.5% and 65%, respectively. Exposure to indoor pesticides was seen among most of cases and controls. Being a farmer was at a significantly more increased risk of developing acute leukemia in comparison to other jobs, especially for their children. Exposure to pesticides was shown to be one of the most important causes of acute leukemia. It seems that there is a need to educate the people on public health importance of exposure to pesticides especially during school time to reduce the risk of malignancies during childhood.
Highlights
Cancer is still a significant health problem in developing countries, and one that is likely to increase in future
This study determined the relationship between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of acute leukemia in Fars province, south of Iran
Materials and Methods: Between April 2011 and April 2013 in a case-control study conducted in Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, Southern Iran; 314 subjects diagnosed with acute leukemia (94 pediatric cases and 220 adults) were enrolled to determine any correlation between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence
Summary
Cancer is still a significant health problem in developing countries, and one that is likely to increase in future. In Fars Province, southern Iran, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has the first agespecific cancer among the 5 major cancers in males with an average annual crude incidence rate of 2.54 and ASR of 2.10 while these figures for acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) is 1.96 and 0.64. The average annual crude incidence rate of ALL in females was shown to be 1.81 and ASR of 1.5 These figures for AML were 1.44 and 1.36 (Mehrabani et al, 2008). Conclusions: Exposure to pesticides was shown to be one of the most important causes of acute leukemia It seems that there is a need to educate the people on public health importance of exposure to pesticides especially during school time to reduce the risk of malignancies during childhood
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