Children fathered by men who have been exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) at work have a greatly increased chance of developing brain tumours, researchers have found. The researchers used occupational data to estimate parental PAH exposure during the five years before the children’s birth. The data came from population-based studies carried out in seven countries, and compared 1,218 cases of childhood brain tumour and 2,223 matched ‘control’ children without cancer. Paternal occupational PAH exposure increased the odds a child developing any type of brain tumour by 30 per cent, the researchers report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

S Cordier, C Monfort, G Filippini and others. Parental Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and the Risk of Childhood Brain Tumors: The SEARCH International Childhood Brain Tumor Study, American Journal of Epidemiology, volume 159, number 12, pages 1109-1116, 2004.