Living in Close Proximity to Oil and Gas Wells Increases Childhood Leukemia Risk: Study

Findings coincide with release of World Health Organization report, linking gasoline and gasoline additives to numerous cancers in children and adults.

New research from the American Academy for Cancer Research (AARC) indicates that children who live within approximately eight miles of an oil and gas well could have up to a 2.64 greater chance of developing cancer before the age of 10.

The study was published in the AARC journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention late last month, showing an increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children living in regions where oil and gas resources are being explored and produced.

The findings coincide with a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) linking gasoline to leukemia and other cancers in adults and children.

The WHO report found that gasoline and certain oxygenated gasoline additives could increase the risks of leukemia in children and adults, as well as risks of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, urinary bladder cancer, stomach cancer and kidney cancer in adults.

The AARC study, conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, was undertaken after prior research revealed that oil and gas production sites often emit air pollutants known to cause leukemia.

The team, led by Lisa M. McKenzie, examined a group of Colorado children born between 1992 and 2019, matching 451 children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia prior to the age of 10 with controls based on the month and year of birth, as well as ethnicity. Proximity to oil and gas wells was estimated using an intensity-adjusted inverse distance weighted (IA-IDW) model developed by McKenzie’s team.

The researchers observed a 1.62, 1.84 and 2.00 greater chance in being diagnosed with leukemia for children in low, medium and high IA-IDW groups within three miles of an oil and gas well. For children within eight miles of a well, a 1.59, 1.40 and 2.64 greater chance of developing leukemia occurred for low, medium and high IA-IDW groups respectively.

As a result, McKenzie’s team concluded that children living within 13 miles of an oil and gas well are at an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia when compared with children at greater distances.

In addition, the researchers pointed out that Colorado’s current setback between oil and gas wells and housing is insufficient.

According to a 2020 Colorado law, the legal setback requirement between housing and oil and gas wells in Colorado requires all wells to be at least 2,000 feet from residences and schools, with exceptions of only 500 feet made in certain cases. However, 2,000 feet is less than half a mile, which is significantly closer than the zone of approximately eight miles that McKenzie’s team used as a reference for their study.

In addition to the health dangers of gasoline, recent studies have also indicated that lead exposure from exhaust may have led to greater numbers of mental disorders for children born between the 1940s and 1990s. That research team concluded that exposure to lead from car exhaust may have been responsible for causing greater rates of depression, anxiety, ADHD and other mental health conditions among millions of American adults.