Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1991 Jun;81(6):719–724. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.6.719

Cancer rates after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and proximity of residence to the plant.

M C Hatch 1, S Wallenstein 1, J Beyea 1, J W Nieves 1, M Susser 1
PMCID: PMC1405170  PMID: 2029040

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the light of a possible link between stress and cancer promotion or progression, and of previously reported distress in residents near the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant, we attempted to evaluate the impact of the March 1979 accident on community cancer rates. METHODS: Proximity of residence to the plant, which related to distress in previous studies, was taken as a possible indicator of accident stress; the postaccident pattern in cancer rates was examined in 69 "study tracts" within a 10-mile radius of TMI, in relation to residential proximity. RESULTS: A modest association was found between postaccident cancer rates and proximity (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.3, 1.6). After adjusting for a gradient in cancer risk prior to the accident, the odds ratio contrasting those closest to the plant with those living farther out was 1.2 (95% CI = 1.0, 1.4). A postaccident increase in cancer rates near the Three Mile Island plant was notable in 1982, persisted for another year, and then declined. Radiation emissions, as modeled mathematically, did not account for the observed increase. CONCLUSION: Interpretation in terms of accident stress is limited by the lack of an individual measure of stress and by uncertainty about whether stress has a biological effect on cancer in humans. An alternative mechanism for the cancer increase near the plant is through changes in care-seeking and diagnostic practice arising from postaccident concern.

Full text

PDF
719

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baum A., Gatchel R. J., Schaeffer M. A. Emotional, behavioral, and physiological effects of chronic stress at Three Mile Island. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1983 Aug;51(4):565–572. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.51.4.565. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bennet G. Bristol floods 1968. Controlled survey of effects on health of local community disaster. Br Med J. 1970 Aug 22;3(5720):454–458. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5720.454. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Borysenko M., Borysenko J. Stress, behavior, and immunity: animal models and mediating mechanisms. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 1982 Apr;4(1):59–67. doi: 10.1016/0163-8343(82)90028-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cassileth B. R., Lusk E. J., Miller D. S., Brown L. L., Miller C. Psychosocial correlates of survival in advanced malignant disease? N Engl J Med. 1985 Jun 13;312(24):1551–1555. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198506133122406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cleary P. D., Houts P. S. The psychological impact of the Three Mile Island incident. J Human Stress. 1984 Spring;10(1):28–34. doi: 10.1080/0097840X.1984.9934956. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cole P., Morrison A. S. Basic issues in population screening for cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1980 May;64(5):1263–1272. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cox T., Mackay C. Psychosocial factors and psychophysiological mechanisms in the aetiology and development of cancers. Soc Sci Med. 1982;16(4):381–396. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(82)90048-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Davidson L. M., Baum A. Chronic stress and posttraumatic stress disorders. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1986 Jun;54(3):303–308. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.54.3.303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Derogatis L. R., Abeloff M. D., Melisaratos N. Psychological coping mechanisms and survival time in metastatic breast cancer. JAMA. 1979 Oct 5;242(14):1504–1508. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dew M. A., Bromet E. J., Schulberg H. C., Dunn L. O., Parkinson D. K. Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart. Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Aug;144(8):1074–1077. doi: 10.1176/ajp.144.8.1074. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ewertz M. Bereavement and breast cancer. Br J Cancer. 1986 May;53(5):701–703. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1986.117. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Greer S., Morris T., Pettingale K. W. Psychological response to breast cancer: effect on outcome. Lancet. 1979 Oct 13;2(8146):785–787. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)92127-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Greer S., Morris T. Psychological attributes of women who develop breast cancer: a controlled study. J Psychosom Res. 1975 Apr;19(2):147–153. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(75)90062-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hahn R. C., Petitti D. B. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-rated depression and the incidence of breast cancer. Cancer. 1988 Feb 15;61(4):845–848. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19880215)61:4<845::aid-cncr2820610434>3.0.co;2-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hatch M. C., Beyea J., Nieves J. W., Susser M. Cancer near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: radiation emissions. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Sep;132(3):397–417. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115673. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hislop T. G., Waxler N. E., Coldman A. J., Elwood J. M., Kan L. The prognostic significance of psychosocial factors in women with breast cancer. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(7):729–735. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(87)90110-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Horne R. L., Picard R. S. Psychosocial risk factors for lung cancer. Psychosom Med. 1979 Nov;41(7):503–514. doi: 10.1097/00006842-197911000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Janerich D. T., Stark A. D., Greenwald P., Burnett W. S., Jacobson H. I., McCusker J. Increased leukemia, lymphoma, and spontaneous abortion in Western New York following a flood disaster. Public Health Rep. 1981 Jul-Aug;96(4):350–356. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Jones D. R., Goldblatt P. O., Leon D. A. Bereavement and cancer: some data on deaths of spouses from the longitudinal study of Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Aug 25;289(6443):461–464. doi: 10.1136/bmj.289.6443.461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kaplan G. A., Reynolds P. Depression and cancer mortality and morbidity: prospective evidence from the Alameda County study. J Behav Med. 1988 Feb;11(1):1–13. doi: 10.1007/BF00846165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Morgenstern H. Uses of ecologic analysis in epidemiologic research. Am J Public Health. 1982 Dec;72(12):1336–1344. doi: 10.2105/ajph.72.12.1336. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Persky V. W., Kempthorne-Rawson J., Shekelle R. B. Personality and risk of cancer: 20-year follow-up of the Western Electric Study. Psychosom Med. 1987 Sep-Oct;49(5):435–449. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198709000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pettingale K. W., Morris T., Greer S., Haybittle J. L. Mental attitudes to cancer: an additional prognostic factor. Lancet. 1985 Mar 30;1(8431):750–750. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91283-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Piantadosi S., Byar D. P., Green S. B. The ecological fallacy. Am J Epidemiol. 1988 May;127(5):893–904. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114892. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Priestman T. J., Priestman S. G., Bradshaw C. Stress and breast cancer. Br J Cancer. 1985 Apr;51(4):493–498. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1985.71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Prince-Embury S., Rooney J. F. Psychological symptoms of residents in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and restart. J Soc Psychol. 1988 Dec;128(6):779–790. doi: 10.1080/00224545.1988.9924556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Rogentine G. N., Jr, van Kammen D. P., Fox B. H., Docherty J. P., Rosenblatt J. E., Boyd S. C., Bunney W. E., Jr Psychological factors in the prognosis of malignant melanoma: a prospective study. Psychosom Med. 1979 Dec;41(8):647–655. doi: 10.1097/00006842-197912000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Shekelle R. B., Raynor W. J., Jr, Ostfeld A. M., Garron D. C., Bieliauskas L. A., Liu S. C., Maliza C., Paul O. Psychological depression and 17-year risk of death from cancer. Psychosom Med. 1981 Apr;43(2):117–125. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198104000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Spiegel D., Bloom J. R., Kraemer H. C., Gottheil E. Effect of psychosocial treatment on survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Lancet. 1989 Oct 14;2(8668):888–891. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)91551-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Zonderman A. B., Costa P. T., Jr, McCrae R. R. Depression as a risk for cancer morbidity and mortality in a nationally representative sample. JAMA. 1989 Sep 1;262(9):1191–1195. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES