Nitrates and Brain/CNS Cancer Diagnoses in the Pediatric Population
Description
Nitrates, used in fertilizers to enhance crop growth, pose a risk to the pediatric population. Biological evidence has long established that exposure to nitrates in drinking water leads to carcinogenic N-nitro compounds (NOCs), increasing the risk of brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers. This risk may be pronounced via prenatal exposure from mother to child transmission of nitrates in utero.
Despite the potential biological mechanism, little epidemiological evidence in humans has investigated nitrate exposure to pediatric Brain/CNS cancer.
We analyzed historic public drinking water data and Iowa cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiological, and End Results (SEER) program. First, we identified all Brain/CNS cancers diagnosed in 0-year-old populations between 1975-1988. Second, we conducted a county-level, ecological analysis to compare nitrate levels in public drinking water in the two-year window of a pediatric Brain/CNS cancer diagnosis with nitrate levels in all other years. After calculating the overall summary statistics, we constructed generalized linear regression and quantile regression models.
During the study period in these rural counties in Iowa, there were 14 cases of Brain/CNS cancers in 0-year-old children. In the two-year window of a Brain/CNS diagnosis, mean nitrate levels were 3.108 mg/L, compared to 1.459 mg/L in years without a Brain/CNS diagnosis.
We found significantly higher nitrate levels preceding pediatric zero-year-old BCNS cancer diagnoses. Although our results do not provide a definite causal link between nitrate exposure and Brain/CNS cancer risk, these findings support investigating early-life nitrate exposure as a potential risk factor for infant BCNS tumors.
Citation Information
Sajid, Arshi and Semprini, Jason, "Nitrates and Brain/CNS Cancer Diagnoses in the Pediatric Population" (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 8.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/8
Nitrates and Brain/CNS Cancer Diagnoses in the Pediatric Population
Nitrates, used in fertilizers to enhance crop growth, pose a risk to the pediatric population. Biological evidence has long established that exposure to nitrates in drinking water leads to carcinogenic N-nitro compounds (NOCs), increasing the risk of brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers. This risk may be pronounced via prenatal exposure from mother to child transmission of nitrates in utero.
Despite the potential biological mechanism, little epidemiological evidence in humans has investigated nitrate exposure to pediatric Brain/CNS cancer.
We analyzed historic public drinking water data and Iowa cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiological, and End Results (SEER) program. First, we identified all Brain/CNS cancers diagnosed in 0-year-old populations between 1975-1988. Second, we conducted a county-level, ecological analysis to compare nitrate levels in public drinking water in the two-year window of a pediatric Brain/CNS cancer diagnosis with nitrate levels in all other years. After calculating the overall summary statistics, we constructed generalized linear regression and quantile regression models.
During the study period in these rural counties in Iowa, there were 14 cases of Brain/CNS cancers in 0-year-old children. In the two-year window of a Brain/CNS diagnosis, mean nitrate levels were 3.108 mg/L, compared to 1.459 mg/L in years without a Brain/CNS diagnosis.
We found significantly higher nitrate levels preceding pediatric zero-year-old BCNS cancer diagnoses. Although our results do not provide a definite causal link between nitrate exposure and Brain/CNS cancer risk, these findings support investigating early-life nitrate exposure as a potential risk factor for infant BCNS tumors.
