Prenatal exposure to air toxics and risk of Wilms' tumor in 0- to 5-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE: To study prenatal air toxic exposure and Wilms' tumor in children. METHODS: We identified 337 Wilms' tumor cases among children younger than 6 years (1988 to 2008) from the California Cancer Registry, randomly selected 96,514 controls from California birth rolls in 20:1 ratio matched to all cancer cases, then linked birth addresses to air monitors within 15 miles to assess exposures. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to estimate effects. RESULTS: Children prenatally exposed to formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perchloroethylene, or acetaldehyde in the third trimester had an increased odds of Wilms' tumor per interquartile increase in concentration (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.28 [1.12 to 1.45], 1.10 [0.99 to 1.22], 1.09 [1.00 to 1.18], 1.25 [1.07 to 1.45], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found positive associations for four air toxics. This is the first study of this kind. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings.