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. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of cancer with very low birth weight and moderately low birth weight (1500-1999 g and 2000-2499 g, respectively), compared with moderate/high birth weight (>or=2500 g), with adjustment for gender, gestational age, birth order, plurality, maternal age, maternal race, state, and year of birth. RESULTS: Most childhood cancers were not associated with low birth weights. However, retinoblastomas and gliomas other than astrocytomas and ependymomas were possibly associated with very low birth weight. The risk of other gliomas was also increased among children weighing 1500 to 1999 g at birth. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggested no association between most cancers and very low birth weight, with the exception of the known association of hepatoblastoma and possibly moderately increased risks of other gliomas and retinoblastoma, which may warrant confirmation.

Childhood asthma along the United States/Mexico border: hospitalizations and air quality in two California counties

Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, there has been an increasing need to monitor environmental health trends that may be related to the rapid industrialization of the United States/Mexico border. We studied two counties on the California/Baja California border to obtain baseline data on trends in childhood asthma hospitalizations and two pollutants that aggravate asthma, ozone and particulate matter (less than 10 microns in diameter), from 1983 to 1994. Hospital discharge records of children 14 years and younger were analyzed, and rates by county, race, and sex were age-adjusted to the 1990 California population. Data on five ozone and particulate matter indices obtained from the California Environmental Protection Agency were used. Imperial County had the highest childhood asthma hospitalization rates in California for non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans, and the second highest for Hispanics. San Diego County had rates below the state average. Over the County decreased 9 por ciento. Maximum ozone levels increased 64 por ciento in Imperial County but decreased 46 por ciento in San Diego County. High rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations in Imperial County may be partially related to high levels of poverty and worsening air quality conditions produced by increased burdens on the local airshed. Asthma prevalence surveys and binational time-series analyses examining asthma-pollutant relationships are needed

Childhood asthma along the United States/Mexico border: hospitalizations and air quality in two California counties

Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, there has been an increasing need to monitor environmental health trends that may be related to the rapid industrialization of the United States/Mexico border. We studied two counties on the California/Baja California border to obtain baseline data on trends in childhood asthma hospitalizations and two pollutants that aggravate asthma, ozone and particulate matter (less than 10 microns in diameter), from 1983 to 1994. Hospital discharge records of children 14 years and younger were analyzed, and rates by county, race, and sex were age-adjusted to the 1990 California population. Data on five ozone and particulate matter indices obtained from the California Environmental Protection Agency were used. Imperial County had the highest childhood asthma hospitalization rates in California for non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans, and the second highest for Hispanics. San Diego County had rates below the state average. Over the County decreased 9 por ciento. Maximum ozone levels increased 64 por ciento in Imperial County but decreased 46 por ciento in San Diego County. High rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations in Imperial County may be partially related to high levels of poverty and worsening air quality conditions produced by increased burdens on the local airshed. Asthma prevalence surveys and binational time-series analyses examining asthma-pollutant relationships are needed