Cancer on the Farm
Ranchers and oncologists need to be friends. According to a new study, kids who grow up among livestock become adults at greater risk of blood cancers such as leukemia. In fact, growing up on a poultry farm means three times the risk as on a crop farm.
Though the cause and effect mechanism, if any, is yet to be determined. The most likely culprits include pesticides and contact with animals.
While growing up on a crop farm meant a lower risk, working on one as an adult made a person's cancer risk 50 percent higher, according to researchers. The study, in New Zealand, looked at occupations and causes of death in over 100,000 death certificates over five years.