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A potential link between professional pesticide treatments in the home and a higher risk of children developing brain tumours has been revealed in a new study from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

Published this week in the international journal Cancer Causes & Control , the study found that exposure by parents to professional pesticide treatments prior to conception could increase the chances of a child developing a brain tumour.

The research, led by Adjunct Professor Elizabeth Milne of The University of Western Australia, analysed data from 303 case families and 941 control families who participated in the Australian Study of Childhood Brain Tumours (Aus-CBT) - a nationwide case-control study designed to investigate environmental and genetic risk factors for CBT.

The study examined professional pesticide exposure in the year before pregnancy, during pregnancy and after the child is born, revealing a link between the timing of the exposure and the type of pesticides involved.

More details here .

Media references

Elizabeth Chester (TICHR)  (+61 8)  9489 7965  /  (+61 4) 09 988 530
Tammy Gibbs (TICHR)  (+61 8)  9489 7963  /  (+61 4) 08 946 698
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783