Cancer near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: Radiation emissions
- Columbia Univ. School of Public Health, New York, NY (USA)
As a public charge, cancers among the 159,684 residents living within a 10-mile (16-km) radius of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant were studied relative to releases of radiation during the March 28, 1979, accident as well as to routine plant emissions. The principal cancers considered were leukemia and childhood malignancies. Estimates of the emissions delivered to small geographic study tracts were derived from mathematical dispersion models which accounted for modifying factors such as wind and terrain; the model of accident emissions was validated by readings from off-site dosimeters. Incident cancers among area residents for the period 1975-1985 (n = 5,493) were identified by a review of the records at all local and regional hospitals; preaccident and postaccident trends in cancer rates were examined. For accident emissions, the authors failed to find definite effects of exposure on the cancer types and population subgroups thought to be most susceptible to radiation. No associations were seen for leukemia in adults or for childhood cancers as a group. For leukemia in children, the odds ratio was raised, but cases were few (n = 4), and the estimate was highly variable. Moreover, rates of childhood leukemia in the Three Mile Island area are low compared with national and regional rates. For exposure to routine emissions, the odds ratios were raised for childhood cancers as a whole and for childhood leukemia, but confidence intervals were wide and included 1.0. For leukemia in adults, there was a negative trend. Trends for two types of cancer ran counter to expectation. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showed raised risks relative to both accident and routine emissions; lung cancer (adjusted only indirectly for smoking) showed raised risks relative to accident emissions, routine emissions, and background gamma radiation.
- OSTI ID:
- 6523290
- Journal Information:
- American Journal of Epidemiology; (USA), Vol. 132:3; ISSN 0002-9262
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A reevaluation of cancer incidence near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: The collision of evidence and assumptions
Leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and residential proximity to industrial plants
Related Subjects
LEUKEMIA
RADIOINDUCTION
NEOPLASMS
AIR POLLUTION
CHILDREN
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
EPIDEMIOLOGY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PENNSYLVANIA
RADIATION DOSES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
THREE MILE ISLAND-1 REACTOR
ACCIDENTS
AGE GROUPS
DISEASES
DOSES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FEDERAL REGION III
HEMIC DISEASES
IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
USA
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
560151* - Radiation Effects on Animals- Man
560161 - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Man