Environmental exposures during pregnancy may affect cancer risk in children and young people – University of Oulu part of major European study

The research at the University of Oulu is led by Adjunct Professor Ville N. Pimenoff at the Research Unit of Population Health . Over the past five years, his team has worked in collaboration with researchers at Stanford University to assess individual exposure to chemical and biological environmental factors, including among young Finnish women.

The newly launched EU-funded project will examine how a mother’s exposure to environmental chemicals and biological agents during pregnancy affects cancer risk in children and adolescents. The study will look in particular at the origins of leukaemia, lymphomas and tumours of the central nervous system.

The research is based on the understanding that pregnancy is a highly sensitive period of development. Exposure during this time to air pollution, everyday chemicals or other environmental factors may increase a child’s risk of developing cancer later in childhood or adolescence.

According to Pimenoff, the role of a mother’s lifetime exposure to chemical and biological factors in the development of childhood cancers is still not well understood.

“We know that childhood cancers are influenced by a range of factors, but the role of environmental exposures during pregnancy remains unclear. Our aim is to identify factors that could be targeted through preventive measures,” he says.

The study will bring together extensive registry, biobank and genomic data from several countries to assess the impact of the maternal exposome — the totality of environmental exposures over a lifetime — on cancers in children and young people.

The findings will be used to develop recommendations for the European Commission on how to reduce the harmful effects of environmental exposures. The long-term goal is to prevent cancers in children and young people.

The international consortium brings together 14 research groups from across Europe and is coordinated by the Princess Máxima Center for paediatric oncology in the Netherlands.

The project has received €7 million in funding from the European Union’s Cancer Mission programme and will run from 2026 to 2030.