Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 1999 May;56(5):308–314. doi: 10.1136/oem.56.5.308

Incidence of childhood brain and other non-haematopoietic neoplasms near nuclear sites in Scotland, 1975-94

L Sharp, P A McKinney, R J Black
PMCID: PMC1757739  PMID: 10472304

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To examine the risk of cancers other than leukaemia and non- Hodgkin's lymphoma in children resident in the vicinity of nuclear sites in Scotland. METHODS: The study dataset comprised registrations of cancer other than leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosed in children aged under 15 in the period 1975-94. These were validated for completeness and accuracy and analysed in two groups: (a) tumours of the central nervous system and (b) other malignant tumours (excluding leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). Around each nuclear site observed cases (O) were enumerated and expected numbers (E) calculated with adjustment for age, sex, deprivation, and an urban-rural category. Stone's maximum likelihood ratio test (MLR) was used to determine whether there was any evidence of increased risk of these neoplasms among children living within 25 km of one of the nuclear sites investigated. The significance level of each MLR statistic was estimated by simulation. RESULTS: More tumours of the central nervous system were observed than expected within 25 km of Dounreay (O/E = 1.14), Hunterston (1.14), and Rosyth (1.22). These results were based on 2, 26, and 136 observed cases, respectively. The unconditional MLR was significant only for Rosyth (p = 0.006). The conditional application of the MLR test for Rosyth was not significant (p = 0.771). For the group of other malignant neoplasms, the unconditional MLR test was not significant for any of the seven sites. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence for generally increased risk of either tumours of the central nervous system or other malignant tumours in children living near nuclear sites. The significant excess of tumours of the central nervous system around Rosyth is likely to be due to the high incidence of these tumours in east central Scotland. Further investigations in this area are warranted.

 

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (166.3 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Birch J. M., Marsden H. B. A classification scheme for childhood cancer. Int J Cancer. 1987 Nov 15;40(5):620–624. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910400508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bithell J. F., Dutton S. J., Draper G. J., Neary N. M. Distribution of childhood leukaemias and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas near nuclear installations in England and Wales. BMJ. 1994 Aug 20;309(6953):501–505. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6953.501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bithell J. F., Stone R. A. On statistical methods for analysing the geographical distribution of cancer cases near nuclear installations. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1989 Mar;43(1):79–85. doi: 10.1136/jech.43.1.79. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bithell J. F. The choice of test for detecting raised disease risk near a point source. Stat Med. 1995 Nov 15;14(21-22):2309–2322. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780142104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Black R. J., Urquhart J. D., Kendrick S. W., Bunch K. J., Warner J., Jones D. A. Incidence of leukaemia and other cancers in birth and schools cohorts in the Dounreay area. BMJ. 1992 May 30;304(6839):1401–1405. doi: 10.1136/bmj.304.6839.1401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bunin G. R., Buckley J. D., Boesel C. P., Rorke L. B., Meadows A. T. Risk factors for astrocytic glioma and primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the brain in young children: a report from the Children's Cancer Group. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1994 Apr-May;3(3):197–204. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Draper G. J., Stiller C. A., Cartwright R. A., Craft A. W., Vincent T. J. Cancer in Cumbria and in the vicinity of the Sellafield nuclear installation, 1963-90. BMJ. 1993 Jan 9;306(6870):89–94. doi: 10.1136/bmj.306.6870.89. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Forman D., Cook-Mozaffari P., Darby S., Davey G., Stratton I., Doll R., Pike M. Cancer near nuclear installations. Nature. 1987 Oct 8;329(6139):499–505. doi: 10.1038/329499a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. GILES D., HEWITT D., STEWART A., WEBB J. Malignant disease in childhood and diagnostic irradiation in utero. Lancet. 1956 Sep 1;271(6940):447–447. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(56)91923-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gardner M. J., Hall A. J., Downes S., Terrell J. D. Follow up study of children born to mothers resident in Seascale, West Cumbria (birth cohort). Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987 Oct 3;295(6602):822–827. doi: 10.1136/bmj.295.6602.822. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gurney J. G., Mueller B. A., Davis S., Schwartz S. M., Stevens R. G., Kopecky K. J. Childhood brain tumor occurrence in relation to residential power line configurations, electric heating sources, and electric appliance use. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jan 15;143(2):120–128. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008718. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Heasman M. A., Kemp I. W., Urquhart J. D., Black R. Childhood leukaemia in northern Scotland. Lancet. 1986 Feb 1;1(8475):266–266. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90794-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hill C., Laplanche A. Overall mortality and cancer mortality around French nuclear sites. Nature. 1990 Oct 25;347(6295):755–757. doi: 10.1038/347755a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kuijten R. R., Bunin G. R., Nass C. C., Meadows A. T. Gestational and familial risk factors for childhood astrocytoma: results of a case-control study. Cancer Res. 1990 May 1;50(9):2608–2612. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kuijten R. R., Bunin G. R. Risk factors for childhood brain tumors. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1993 May-Jun;2(3):277–288. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. McCredie M., Maisonneuve P., Boyle P. Antenatal risk factors for malignant brain tumours in New South Wales children. Int J Cancer. 1994 Jan 2;56(1):6–10. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910560103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. McCredie M., Maisonneuve P., Boyle P. Perinatal and early postnatal risk factors for malignant brain tumours in New South Wales children. Int J Cancer. 1994 Jan 2;56(1):11–15. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910560104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. McKinney P. A., Ironside J. W., Harkness E. F., Arango J. C., Doyle D., Black R. J. Registration quality and descriptive epidemiology of childhood brain tumours in Scotland 1975-90. Br J Cancer. 1994 Nov;70(5):973–979. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1994.432. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McKinney P. A., Smith K., Findlay E. The chief scientist reports ... The Scottish case control study of childhood leukaemia and cancer: methodology and environmental measures of exposure. Health Bull (Edinb) 1995 Jul;53(4):222–229. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Michaelis J., Keller B., Haaf G., Kaatsch P. Incidence of childhood malignancies in the vicinity of west German nuclear power plants. Cancer Causes Control. 1992 May;3(3):255–263. doi: 10.1007/BF00124259. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Preston-Martin S., Navidi W., Thomas D., Lee P. J., Bowman J., Pogoda J. Los Angeles study of residential magnetic fields and childhood brain tumors. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Jan 15;143(2):105–119. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008717. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Preston-Martin S., Yu M. C., Benton B., Henderson B. E. N-Nitroso compounds and childhood brain tumors: a case-control study. Cancer Res. 1982 Dec;42(12):5240–5245. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Prindull G., Demuth M., Wehinger H. Cancer morbidity rates of children from the vicinity of the nuclear power plant of Würgassen (FRG). Acta Haematol. 1993;90(2):90–93. doi: 10.1159/000204382. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sharp L., Black R. J., Harkness E. F., McKinney P. A. Incidence of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the vicinity of nuclear sites in Scotland, 1968-93. Occup Environ Med. 1996 Dec;53(12):823–831. doi: 10.1136/oem.53.12.823. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Stone R. A. Investigations of excess environmental risks around putative sources: statistical problems and a proposed test. Stat Med. 1988 Jun;7(6):649–660. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780070604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Washburn E. P., Orza M. J., Berlin J. A., Nicholson W. J., Todd A. C., Frumkin H., Chalmers T. C. Residential proximity to electricity transmission and distribution equipment and risk of childhood leukemia, childhood lymphoma, and childhood nervous system tumors: systematic review, evaluation, and meta-analysis. Cancer Causes Control. 1994 Jul;5(4):299–309. doi: 10.1007/BF01804980. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Zaridze D. G., Li N., Men T., Duffy S. W. Childhood cancer incidence in relation to distance from the former nuclear testing site in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Int J Cancer. 1994 Nov 15;59(4):471–475. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910590407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES