The association between maternal and paternal perinatal employment in industries with exposure to diesel engine exhaust and risk of leukemia and central nervous system (CNS) cancers, including certain subtypes, was evaluated using nationwide register data. Children aged =19 years and diagnosed with childhood cancer from 1968 to 2016 were identified in the Danish Cancer Registry and 25 randomly selected cancer-free controls per case were matched by age and sex. The probability of exposure to diesel engine exhaust was assessed using a validated job exposure matrix. The results showed that maternal employment in industries with diesel engine exhaust exposure was associated with an increased risk of CNS cancers (OR 1.31, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.74) and of astrocytoma (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.14) in offspring. The highest OR for these cancers were observed for mothers with highest probability of exposure to diesel engine exhaust. For fathers, OR for cancers under study were close to one. No increased risks of leukemias were found for either mothers or fathers employed in diesel industries.