An analysis of California groundwater has revealed 7 constituents associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer. The findings were published in the journal Cancer.
Researchers evaluated constituents in 18,506 groundwater wells that had measurements taken between 1996 and 2010 in 58 California counties. The California Cancer Registry was used to assess kidney cancer data from 2003 to 2017.
A water-wide association study platform was developed to evaluate the association between groundwater constituents and kidney cancer in three 5-year periods.
Continue Reading
There were 79,609 cases of kidney cancer during the overall period, from 2003 to 2017. The incidence of kidney cancer was:
- 14.1 per 100,000 people overall
- 13.0 per 100,000 people for the 2003-2007 period
- 14.5 per 100,000 people for the 2008-2012 period
- 14.9 per 100,000 people for the 2013-2017 period.
The incidence was approximately double for men compared to women and increased with age.
The researchers identified 208 groundwater constituents, including volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, minerals and nutrients, metals, radiochemicals, and miscellaneous compounds.
Of these constituents, 7 were associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer, including:
- Chlordane (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10)
- Dieldrin (SIR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07)
- 1,2-dichloropropane (SIR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.05)
- 2,4,5-TP (SIR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05)
- Glyphosphate (SIR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04)
- Endothall (SIR, 1.02; 95 %CI, 1.01-1.03)
- Carbaryl (SIR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03).
“Public health efforts to reduce the burden of kidney cancer should consider groundwater constituents as environmental exposures that may be associated with the incidence of kidney cancer,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.
Reference
Soerensen SJC, Montez-Rath ME, Cheng I, et al. Groundwater constituents and the incidence of kidney cancer. Cancer. Published online June 7, 2023. doi:10.1002/cncr.34898
This article originally appeared on Cancer Therapy Advisor