24
Feb
Pesticide Exposure Again Linked to Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, as Rates Rise
(Beyond Pesticides. February 24, 2026) Leukemia is the leading contributor to the clear rise in childhood cancer cases over the last few decades, and the general association of pesticide exposures with childhood leukemia is firmly established. Now, a new study is the first to assess the effect of pesticide exposures on the survival of children with leukemia. The study found a statistically significant link between residential rodenticide exposure and a higher risk in children of death from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), with about 10% of the exposed children dying within five years of diagnosis. Crucially, pre- and post-natal periods were the most critical exposure windows—and the intervals when residents were most likely to use rodenticides. With proper treatment, about 80% of children diagnosed after age one with ALL can survive.
The study, by University of California, Berkeley epidemiologist Seema Desai and colleagues at several other California state universities, used data from the California Childhood Leukemia Study (CCLS), an ongoing population-based case-control study identifying genetic and environmental risks for the range of leukemias occurring in children. Beyond Pesticides covered a 2009 study using the CCLS that found elevated risk of ALL in children living near agricultural pesticide applications, along with a Georgetown University study finding an association between organophosphate exposure and ALL.
The California researchers did not identify specific chemicals, but analyzed pesticides by their uses in four categories, finding the hazard ratio (likelihood of death) ranked in descending order: rodenticides, flea control, insecticides, and herbicides. While the study also found links to other pesticides, the children exposed to rodenticides were significantly more likely to die.
The researchers analyzed data from extensive interviews with parents of children with ALL enrolled in the CCLS between 1995 and 2008 regarding residential use of insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and flea control products from preconception to within a year of the child’s diagnosis. The measured outcome was 5-year survival after diagnosis. Of the 807 cases recorded in that 12-year interval, 108 children died within five years.
The researchers also included race and ethnicity to identify potential sociodemographic disparities that might affect the outcome and duration of breastfeeding, as it is known to influence infant immune development. There is an environmental justice aspect to the results, although it raises further questions. Of the diagnosed children, 47% were Latinx, 35% were non-Latinx Whites, and the remainder were either Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or of unknown background. However, the highest number of deaths was among non-Latinx Black children. This is consistent with evidence in the U.S. of a 15.3% rise in leukemia incidence among non-Hispanic Black children between 1975 and 2023 and a 9.9% increase among Hispanic children.
The children most likely to die also had the highest-risk type of ALL (the highest white blood cell count), were less likely to be breastfed, and were members of families with low educational attainment and low annual income. But Latinx households and those with the very lowest income and education were least likely to use pesticides. Thus, further demographic analysis with larger sample sizes would help to illuminate the populations at the highest risk from the use of synthetic chemicals to control rodents.
The authors observe that rodenticides have been linked to childhood leukemia risk by numerous population studies, and that mechanistic studies indicate rodenticides trigger oxidative stress and mitochondrial irregularities, which in turn can cause DNA strand breaks and chromosomal derangement. While these kinds of damage might be picked up in regulatory studies assessing genetic effects, ironically usually involving rodents, there are many subsequent consequences and additional exposures that are not currently of concern to regulators or pesticide manufacturers. For example, there may be epigenetic changes and immune system deregulation that add to the risk of childhood leukemia from early pesticide exposures. Research on adults with ALL also exposed to pesticides has shown changes in blood and bone marrow similar to those induced by radiation or chemotherapy treatments. This suggests that pesticide exposure may make children’s prognoses and survival worse because these types of damage are harder to treat, the authors note. “Overall,†they write, “epidemiological and biological data support the role of certain pesticides in both the development and prognosis of leukemias.†The study was published in the March 2025 issue of Cancers.
Rodents are a major problem in many residential areas, but pesticides are not the only—and far from the ideal—way to deal with them. Public health policies could influence the design, construction, and maintenance of housing to deter rodent colonization. In addition, there are steps residents can take that do not involve incurring risks to themselves, their children, their pets, and wildlife. See Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management and ManageSafe. (See also Beyond Pesticides’ comments on EPA’s rodenticide biological evaluation and registration review.) Political action is also possible: the city of Newbury, Massachusetts, voted to ban second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides on private property in August 2024; see our Daily News Brief here, which details how state and local governments have jousted over who has sovereignty over pesticides, with states usually winning. Some states have taken some protective steps; the State of Massachusetts discourages these cruel rodenticides, and the California Ecosystems Protection Act became law in 2020, restricting the use of such products. Most of these political efforts have come from wildlife conservation activists, but humans undoubtedly also benefit.
Pesticide use, particularly given the Trump administration’s industry-favoring policies, is likely to continue to rise sharply. Not surprisingly given this, the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) predicts new cancer cases to rise 67.4% by 2030. See Beyond Pesticides’ extensive information on leukemia in our Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database.
One of the most painful ironies of industrial promotion of pesticides to protect our children and pets is that those pesticides pose significant risks to the very things we want to not only survive, but thrive. It is time to detach the spurious association between health and pesticides and expose the deflections and disinformation industry produces. Going organic and pushing back against the further deregulation of poisonous chemicals is the best way to protect humans and ecosystems.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Sources:
Pre- and Postnatal Exposures to Residential Pesticides and Survival of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Desai et al.
Cancers 2025
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/17/6/978
Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Rull et al.
Environ Res. 2009
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19700145/
Safe Rodent Control: Real-Life Solutions
Center for Biological Diversity
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/Safe-Rodent-Control/rodent-control-solutions.html
SAFE RODENT CONTROL
Living Rodent Free While Safeguarding Wildlife, Families, and Pets
Center for Biological Diversity
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/Safe-Rodent-Control/index.html
Childhood Leukemia Linked to Pesticides Used in Vineyards
Beyond Pesticides, November 1, 2023
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2023/11/childhood-leukemia-linked-to-pesticides-used-in-vineyards/
Children Living Near Agricultural Pesticide Use Have Higher Cancer Rate
Beyond Pesticides, September 29, 2009
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2009/09/children-living-near-agricultural-pesticide-use-have-higher-cancer-rate/
In Utero and Childhood Pesticide Exposure Increases Childhood Cancer Risk
Beyond Pesticides, September 1, 2021
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2021/09/in-utero-and-childhood-pesticide-exposure-increases-childhood-cancer-risk/
Leukemia
Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database
Beyond Pesticides
https://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/pesticide-induced-diseases-database/search-the-database?cat24=24&catcount=1&searchlogic=OR&searchbutton=SEARCH
Association between Residential Proximity to Viticultural Areas and Childhood Acute Leukemia
Risk in Mainland France: GEOCAP Case-Control Study, 2006-2013
Mancini et al.
Environmental Health Perspectives 2023
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37850750/
