Exposure to air pollution of this type whilst developing in the womb during pregnancy, or during the first year of their life, could increase babies’ and small children’s risk of developing these particularly strains of cancer, according to the researchers.
The data was collected from children who had been diagnosed with cancer when they were aged five or younger, and this was then correlated with indications of air pollution and local traffic emissions in the area where they live. The study was looking for proof that the pollution may affect the wellbeing of these young children, and that proof did seem to appear to be evident.
When looking at the data, researchers noted that the more traffic pollution that was present in the air, the greater the risk to the child from white blood cell cancer (lymphoblastic leukaemia) as well as eye cancer and cancer of the ovaries, testicles and other organs.
The researchers, based at the University of California, as part of the Los Angeles School of Public Health stress that the findings do not directly prove that air pollution causes the cancers, but does indicate that there is an association, and that further work is now required in order to work out why this association exists. The results do seem to suggest that the traffic pollution may be a pause, but because it is the first study of its type, further studies will need to now be conducted to see if the results continue to show the same worrying pattern.