Residence Near Agricultural Crops at Birth and Risk of Adult Testicular Germ Cell Tumors: A French Nationwide Case-Control Study Using Historical Aerial GIS Data.

Early life exposure to pesticides, in particular through pesticides drift in residents nearby agricultural crops, is suspected to increase testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) risk. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study of 472 TGCT cases and 683 matched controls aged 18-45 years in France and estimated adult TGCT risk associated with agricultural surfaces around residence as a surrogate for environmental exposure to agricultural pesticides at time of birth. Surface of arable lands, orchards and vineyards in 500 m buffer around the participants' residential address at birth was assessed using geographic information system (GIS) methods and software semi-automatic processing of historical aerial images. Odds ratios (OR) for TGCT (overall and by histological subtype) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using conditional logistic regression. No increased risk of TGCT was observed for presence of arable lands (OR = 1.14, CI = 0.86-1.52), vineyards (OR = 0.88, CI = 0.56-1.36) and agricultural surfaces overall (OR = 1.13, CI = 0.84-1.51) in 500 m buffer around residence at birth. Presence of orchards (prevalence: 8.7%) was associated with a modest increase in TGCT risk (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 0.99-2.32), slightly stronger for seminoma (OR = 1.78, 1.07-2.97) and in participants conceived or in their first trimester after conception during spring-summer (OR = 1.70, 1.03-2.82). In conclusion, the study found no overall association between adult TGCT risk and agricultural crops around residence at birth, except for the presence of orchards, with a possible increase in seminoma risks, as well as TGCT risk in participants for whom the first trimester after conception fell into spring-summer.