A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that children living near vineyards have an increased risk of developing leukemia due to the use of pesticides.
The study analyzed 3,700 cases of childhood leukemia in France between 2006 and 2013.
If children lived within one kilometer (0.62 miles) of a vineyard, they had an increased risk of developing cancer, according to the study.
When the area of a vineyard increased by 10%, the risk of developing cancer also increased.
“[W]e evidenced a slight increase in the risk of childhood [lymphoblastic leukemia] living in areas with higher viticulture density, with some heterogeneity between regions,” the study concluded.
“This finding reinforces the hypothesis that pesticides used in viticulture may be associated with childhood [acute leukemia], a hypothesis that we will investigate further using available databases of agricultural uses of pesticides.”
According to Stéphanie Goujon, who led the study, “For all of these children, sick and not sick, we were able to geolocate the residential addresses on the map of mainland France. These addresses were then cross-checked with a map of the cultivated areas and in particular wine plots.”
“Analysis of other crops and other types of cancer is also underway … including the evaluation of exposure to different pesticides,” she added.
