A growing body of research ties environmental pollutants to worse health and shorter life spans for childhood cancer survivors.

Yet medical providers lack sufficient resources to address these risks with patients, a recent federally funded study found.

The study, published in Cancers, revealed 80% of paediatric oncology providers surveyed received questions from families about the impact of environmental pollutants on children’s health, but only 25% of providers said they felt comfortable discussing the topic.

“Medical providers receive little to no education or clinical training on the impacts of environmental pollutants like pesticides and wildfire smoke but need resources to better treat patients,” said Mark Miller, MD, MPH, senior author of the study and an associate professor in UCSF’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine division.

To fill the gap, UCSF’s Western States Paediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (WSPEHSU) is partnering with physicians from across the country to help develop a paediatric cancer environmental referral service.

The service will take children’s environmental health histories and risk assessments, then provide a toolkit to their families.

The kit will include air quality and carbon dioxide monitors, an air purifier, and simple and cost-effective strategies to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.

“Many families express frustration that there are not enough resources to prevent and reduce the impact of environmental pollutants on their kids,” said first author Omar Shakeel, MD, a paediatric haematologist and oncologist at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Ninety-six percent of paediatric cancer providers reported in our study that an environmental referral service would help address these families’ concerns.”

Exposure to pollutants — like pesticides, wildfire smoke, and tobacco smoke — largely goes unnoticed day to day but has serious long-term consequences.

Studies have shown pesticides decrease brain and behavioural function in children, while wildfire smoke has the following impacts, according to past research by Miller:

• Developing or worsening chronic lung diseases like asthma
• Exacerbating ADHD and autism, and worsening school performance
• Decreasing birth weight and height and increasing obesity
• Increasing exposure to known carcinogenic chemicals like benzo(a)pyrene, formaldehyde, and benzene

One Texas study showed childhood cancer survivors had higher death rates if they resided at the time of diagnosis near an oil or gas well, which emit hazardous pollutants.

Another found that paediatric cancer survivors living in Utah zip codes with higher levels of particulate air pollutants had an increased risk of respiratory hospitalisation and death.

Additional research has found that paternal smoking before conception and secondhand smoke exposure during and after pregnancy both increase the death rate of childhood cancer survivors.

“If you believe children in every state should have the cleanest air, water, and environment, then we need policymakers, medical providers, and communities to come together,” said Miller.

“Increasing federal funding for research and resources could help reduce children’s exposure to dangerous pollutants, while improving health and survival outcomes.”

Source: University of California - San Francisco