BRIEF COMMUNICATION - CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA IN A RESIDENTIAL SMALL-TOWN NEAR BARCELONA

Between March 1991 and May 1995, physicians diagnosed four cases of ac ute lymphoblastic leukemia, one case of Hodgkin's disease, and one cas e of aplastic anemia among children who resided in a small town near B arcelona that contained 4 237 inhabitants. The four cases of acute lym phoblastic leukemia represented a significant excess of observed cases (26.4/100 000 for children age 0-14 y [p < .005]). The authors conduc ted an epidemiological study of the population to explore the possible ''local'' role of agents hypothesized or known to be potentially asso ciated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as with other hemato poietic diseases. The small town in which the cases lived is a residen tial area without known or suspected industrial exposures associated w ith leukemia. However, it is located in a county (''Maresme'') that bo asts having the most flower-growing and agricultural undercover produc ing area in Catalonia; consequently, copious amounts of herbicides and pesticides are used. The small number of cases limited the testing of the hypothesis of a causal relationship between environmental pestici de exposure or a viral infection (the only factors common to the cases ) and the excess of leukemia cases. Despite the weaknesses inherent in our study, the information gleaned from our research may be useful to researchers who define local health-related problems.