Investigation of an association between childhood leukemia incidences and airports in Texas

As worldwide demand for air travel increases, emissions from airports will likely also increase. Airport emissions pose a concern due to lack of information about their quantity and impacts on human health and the environment. This research aimed to address the question of whether there is an association between childhood leukemia cases and airport emissions in Texas. Rather than looking at the impacts of a single airport on the surrounding community, this study looks at all airports in the state of Texas, and 2 134 incidences of childhood leukemia (children age 9 and under) state–wide over a 10–year period. The distance to airports of block groups with standardized incidence ratios >100 for childhood leukemia was found to be shorter than the distance to airports for block groups with standardized incidence ratios <100, to a 98% level of confidence. A Poisson regression model was developed to estimate incidences of childhood leukemia, based on county–wide benzene emissions. Benzene emissions from airports were found to be a statistically significant predictor variable. The two analyses provide evidence of an association between airports and incidences of childhood leukemia in Texas.