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Written by Steuart Campbell
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Monday, 23 July 2007 |
No scientific basis for childhood leukaemia claims
Your report of a higher incidence of childhood leukaemia near nuclear plants (19 July) needs to be treated with scepticism.
The authors of the study you refer to make it clear that dose-response studies do not support excess rates found near nuclear facilities and that most of the studies were 'not usually statistically significant' (i.e. just due to random variation). In any case, the conclusion is at odds with other studies, most of which have found no evidence for a general increase in childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the vicinity of nuclear sites.
In April 2005, the UK Childhood Cancer Study (launched in 1990) reported that there was no evidence that radiation from nuclear power stations (or from power lines) was a major cause of childhood cancers. It concluded that such leukaemias are due to genetic defects in the womb triggered by an abnormal immune response after birth, possibly to infections.
Steuart Campbell
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