Mortality and cancer incidence among children and adolescents in Hawaii 20 years after a heptachlor contamination episode.

In 1982, dairy products were recalled from all stores on Oahu, Hawaii, after heptachlor epoxide was detected in milk at concentrations exceeding the federal action level. At the time, an increase in human exposure to heptachlor in children was detected, but no evidence of serious health effects was observed. In an ecologic study design, this report compares mortality and cancer incidence rates of children and adolescents born from 1980 to 1982 to rates of children born before and after the heptachlor episode. Children born from 1980 to 1982 on Oahu were considered to be the exposed population, whereas children born during the same time on the other Hawaiian islands and all children born before 1980 and after 1982 constituted the unexposed population. Poisson regression was used to compare rates by age group, year, birth cohort, and place of residence. Death rates among children born from 1980 to 1982 were consistent with the overall declining mortality trend in children; the rates were consistently lower on Oahu than on the other islands. In agreement with the national trend, cancer incidence rates increased slightly in Hawaii during the last 25 years. Across all ages, cancer risk did not differ significantly between children born between 1980 and 1982 and those born during earlier and later years. However, a slightly higher occurrence of cancer for the heptachlor-exposed cohort when they were 15-19 years old deserves continued observation in the future. Overall, this report found no indication of higher mortality or cancer incidence among children born during the heptachlor contamination period.