Childhood acute Leukemia and their association with the high voltage network in Guadalajara, México

Epidemiological studies have identified increased risks of leukemia in children living near power lines and exposed to relatively high levels of magnetic fields (> 0.3 μT@60 Hz). This study conducted by the University of Guadalajara, the Pediatric National Social Security Medical Center, the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, shows the geographical and temporal distribution of 177 cases of children suffering from Leukemia in six municipalities in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (2015). This case-control study is in progress include ALL and AML cases (n = 177) recruited from 2 hospitals, between 2012 and 2015. Controls (n = 430) matched on gender, age, and city of birth were selected from 6 municipalities from Guadalajara Birth registry. Exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields was based on measurements inside homes. Cancer cases were grouped according to an internationally recognized morphology-based. Results: The results shows 12 cases/100,000 inhabitants for leukemia (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) LLA and for leukemia AML (acute myeloid leukemia). These results were outside of international references. The values are usually 3-5 cases/100,000. The association with the high voltage network shows a 40% of cases along the deployment path of the network distribution with a 0.35 μT inside homes. Conclusions: Although the etiology of most childhood leukemia is unknown, there is a significant association between spatial disease cluster with an unusual elevated disease incidence rate and the high voltage distribution network. Studies in the literature have focused on childhood leukemia because of its relative large incidence among children compared with other malignant disease, its apparent tendency to cluster, and the public concern over locally elevated leukemia incidence. This work is in progress.