Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (14)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Knox, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Knox, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

International Journal of Epidemiology 2000;29:391-397
© International Epidemiological Association 2000

Childhood cancers, birthplaces, incinerators and landfill sites

EG Knox

Background In all, 70 municipal incinerators, 307 hospital incinerators and 460 toxic-waste landfill sites in Great Britain were examined for evidence of effluents causing childhood cancers. Municipal incinerators had previously shown significant excesses of adult cancers within 7.5 and 3.0 km. The relative risks for adults had been marginal and an analysis of childhood cancers seemed to offer a more sensitive approach.

Methods A newly developed technique of analysis compares distances from suspect sources to the birth addresses and to the death addresses of cancer-children who had moved house. A localized hazard, effective at only one of these times, must be preferentially associated with the corresponding address. This creates an asymmetry of migrations towards or away from age-restricted effective sources.

Results The child-cancer/leukaemia data showed no systematic migration-asymmetries around toxic-waste landfill sites; but showed highly significant excesses of migrations away from birthplaces close to municipal incinerators. Relative risks within 5.0 km of these sites were about 2:1. Hospital incinerators gave analogous results. The ratios greatly exceed findings around ‘non-combustion’ urban sites.

Conclusions Because of their locations, the specific effects of the municipal incinerators could not be separated clearly from those of adjacent industrial sources of combustion-effluents. Both were probably carcinogenic. Landfill waste sites showed no such effect.

Keywords Childhood, birthplace, cancer, leukaemia, incinerators, landfill, toxic-waste

Accepted 18 January 2000


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Public Health (Oxf)Home page
R. J. Roberts and M. Chen
Waste incineration--how big is the health risk? A quantitative method to allow comparison with other health risks
J. Public Health Med., September 1, 2006; 28(3): 261 - 266.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
E G Knox
Roads, railways, and childhood cancers
J Epidemiol Community Health, February 1, 2006; 60(2): 136 - 141.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
E G Knox
Oil combustion and childhood cancers
J Epidemiol Community Health, September 1, 2005; 59(9): 755 - 760.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.