Research Studies
Study Tracker
Fluoride exposure in public drinking water and childhood and adolescent osteosarcoma in Texas.Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between fluoride levels in public drinking water and childhood and adolescent osteosarcoma in Texas; to date, studies examining this relationship have been equivocal. Using areas with high and low naturally occurring fluoride, as well as areas with optimal fluoridation, we examined a wide range of fluoride levels in public drinking water.
METHODS: This was a population-based case-control study, with both cases and controls obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry. Eligible cases were Texas children and adolescents <20 years old diagnosed with osteosarcoma between 1996 and 2006. Controls were sampled from children and adolescents diagnosed with either central nervous system (CNS) tumors or leukemia during the same time frame. Using geocoded patient addresses at the time of diagnosis, we estimated patients’ drinking water fluoride exposure levels based on the fluoride levels of their residence’s public water system (PWS). Unconditional logistic regression models were used to assess the association between osteosarcoma and public drinking water fluoride level, adjusting for several demographic risk factors.
RESULTS: Three hundred and eight osteosarcoma cases, 598 leukemia controls, and 604 CNS tumor controls met selection criteria and were assigned a corresponding PWS fluoride level. PWS fluoride level was not associated with osteosarcoma, either in a univariable analysis or after adjusting for age, sex, race, and poverty index. Stratified analyses by sex were conducted; no association between PWS fluoride level and osteosarcoma was observed among either males or females.
CONCLUSIONS: No relationship was found between fluoride levels in public drinking water and childhood/adolescent osteosarcoma in Texas.
*Abstract and References online at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10552-016-0759-9
References
-
Mirabello L, Troisi RJ, Savage SA (2009) Osteosarcoma incidence and survival rates from 1973 to 2004: data from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program. Cancer 115(7):1531–1543. doi:10.1002/cncr.24121
-
Tucker MA, D’Angio GJ, Boice JD Jr, Strong LC, Li FP, Stovall M, Stone BJ, Green DM, Lombardi F, Newton W, Hoover RN, Fraumeni JF Jr (1987) Bone sarcomas linked to radiotherapy and chemotherapy in children. N Engl J Med 317:588–593. doi:10.1056/NEJM198709033171002
-
National Research Council of the National Academies (NRC) (2006) Fluoride in drinking water—a scientific review of EPA’s standards. National Academies Press, Washington
-
Chavassieux P, Boivin G, Serre CM, Meunier PJ (1993) Fluoride increases rat osteoblast function and population after in vivo administration but not after in vitro exposure. Bone 14:721–725
-
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (1999) Ten great public health achievements—United States, 1900–1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 48:241–243
-
Gelberg KH, Fitzgerald EF, Hwang S-A, Dubrow R (1995) Fluoride exposure and childhood osteosarcoma: a case–control study. Am J Public Health 85(12):1678–1683
-
Hrudey SE, Soskolne CL, Berkel J, Fincham S (1990) Drinking water fluoridation and osteosarcoma. Can J Public Health 81:415–416
-
Mahoney MC, Nasca PC, Burnett WS, Melius JM (1991) Bone cancer incidence rates in New York state: time trends and fluoridated drinking water. Am J Public Health 81(4):475–479
-
McGuire SM, Vanable ED, McGuire MH, Buckwalter JA, Douglass CW (1991) Is there a link between fluoridated water and osteosarcoma? J Am Dent Assoc 122:39–45
-
Moss ME, Kanarek MS, Anderson HA, Hanrahan LP, Remington PL (1995) Osteosarcoma, seasonality, and environmental factors in Wisconsin, 1979–1989. Arch Environ Health 50(3):235–241
-
Cohn PD (1992) A brief report on the association of drinking water fluoridation and the incidence of osteosarcoma among young males. New Jersey Department of Environment Protection and New Jersey Department of Health
-
Hoover RN, Devesa SS, Cantor KP, Lubin JH, Fraumeni JF (1991) Time trends for bone and joint cancers and osteosarcomas in the surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) program. US Public Health Service, Washington
-
Bassin EB, Wypij D, Davis RB, Mittleman MA (2006) Age-specific fluoride exposure in drinking water and osteosarcoma (United States). Cancer Causes Control 17(4):421–428. doi:10.1007/s10552-005-0500-6
-
Hudak PF (1999) Fluoride levels in Texas groundwater. J Environ Sci Health A 34(8):1659–1676
-
Checkoway H, Pearce N, Kriebel D (2004) Research methods in occupational epidemiology, monographs in epidemiology and biostatistics, vol 34, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York
-
Freni SC, Gaylor DW (1992) International trends in the incidence of bone cancer are not related to drinking water fluoridation. Cancer 70(3):611–618
-
McDonagh MS, Whiting PF, Wilson PM, Sutton AJ, Chestnutt I, Cooper J, Misso K, Bradley M, Treasure E, Kleijnen J (2000) Systematic review of water fluoridation. BMJ 321:855–859
-
Douglass CW, Joshipura K (2006) Caution needed in fluoride and osteosarcoma study. Cancer Causes Control 17(4):481–482. doi:10.1007/s10552-006-0008-8
-
Kim FM, Hayes C, Williams PL, Whitford GM, Joshipura KJ, Hoover RN, Douglass CW, National Osteosarcoma Etiology G (2011) An assessment of bone fluoride and osteosarcoma. J Dent Res 90(10):1171–1176. doi:10.1177/0022034511418828