[ RadSafe ] COMARE 14th Report: Further consideration of the incidence of childhood

Sat May 7 05:58:40 CDT 2011

Fred:
How can you possibly believe this nonsense. It flies in the face of the
solid scientific studies published and quoted by Busby et al.

They are obviously in the pocket of the nuclear power proponents!
;~)
Doug
 (PS: sarcasm is, I hope, still permitted?)
Doug Aitken
QHSE Advisor, Schlumberger D&M Operations Support
Cell Phone: 713-562-8585
(alternate e-mail: doug.aitken at slb.com )
Mail: c/o Therese Wigzell,
Schlumberger,
Drilling & Measurements HQ,
300 Schlumberger Drive, MD15,
Sugar Land, Texas 77478

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Fred Dawson
GoogleMail
Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 4:02 AM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] COMARE 14th Report: Further consideration of the
incidence of childhood

COMARE 14th Report: Further consideration of the incidence of childhood
leukaemia around nuclear power plants in Great Britain

http://www.comare.org.uk/press_releases/14thReportPressRelease.htm

Childhood leukaemia is a rare disease, affecting approximately 500 children
every year in the UK. Nevertheless there have been numerous studies and
reports on the possible risks of childhood leukaemia in the vicinity of
nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations. The aim of this report
was to undertake a further review of the incidence of childhood leukaemia in
the vicinity of nuclear power plants (NPPs) specifically in Great Britain,
with particular reference to recent publications and studies from other
countries and taking into account the conclusions in the tenth and eleventh
COMARE reports (which consider the period 1969-1993).

COMARE presents a new geographical data analysis on the incidence of
leukaemia in children under 5 years of age, living in the vicinity of 13
NPPs. It uses cancer registration data for Great Britain for the extended
period 1969 to 2004.

The report also considers additional factors not addressed in previous
COMARE reports, which may account for differences in leukaemia risks in
studies from other countries. The report investigates the pathology of
childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma cases in the vicinity of
British NPPs. It also describes the cancer registries of several European
countries, the types of reactors used in those countries, the radioactive
discharges associated with the reactor types and the consequent assessed
radiation doses to the general population.

In particular, COMARE considered the results of the German Kinderkrebs in
der Umgebung von Kernkraftwerken (KiKK) study and concludes they are heavily
influenced by cases in the earliest period (1980-1990), compared with the
later periods (1991-1995 and 1996-2003) when the risks are lower. In the
later periods, the results are influenced heavily by the known cluster
around the Krummel plant. The study was not able to take potential
confounders, such as socio-economic status, into account. There is disparity
in the risk for childhood leukaemia for 1980-1990 between additional German
geographical studies and the case-control KiKK study. Possibilities for this
difference include the distance measurement methodology and the control
selection for the KiKK study.

Finally COMARE is of the view that there is no current evidence to support
the hypothesis that in utero exposures from tritium and carbon-14
radioactive discharges have been underestimated or that such discharges are
associated with increased risk of childhood cancers.

COMARE recommends that the Government keeps a watching brief on the risk of
childhood cancers in the vicinity of NPPs. The committee also recommends
that there is no reduction in maintenance of effective surveillance
regarding the environment and public health. COMARE recommends the
continuation of a programme of environmental measurements of radioactivity,
including the continued monitoring of carbon-14 discharges (both gaseous and
liquid) for existing nuclear installations and similar programmes for all
new NPPS in the UK. The committee would like to see the monitoring of liquid
carbon-14 discharges from NPPs, as undertaken in the UK, extended to the
rest of the EU. COMARE recommends that research is continued into all
possible causative mechanisms of leukaemia (both radiation and
non-radiation-related).
In conclusion, COMARE's primary analysis of the latest British data has
revealed no significant evidence of an association between risk of childhood
leukaemia (in under 5 year olds) and living in proximity to an NPP.

Press enquiries to COMARE Secretariat: Tel No: 01235-832447

COMARE 14th Report "Further consideration of the incidence of childhood
leukaemia around nuclear power plants in Great Britain". Chairman: Professor
A Elliott.

SUMMARY OF THE 14th COMARE REPORT

In this, the 14th COMARE report, the incidence of childhood leukaemia in the
vicinity of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Great Britain has been reviewed
and it has been concluded that the risk estimate for childhood leukaemia
associated with proximity to an NPP is extremely small, if not zero. This
extends the previous analysis presented in COMARE's 10th report for
1969-1993 to the period 1969-2004. The report has considered the pathology
of leukaemia and NHL cases and determined that the cases living within 10 km
of an NPP do not appear to differ from a larger group of control patients.
Evidence has been reviewed from a variety of studies from other countries
regarding the incidence of childhood leukaemia in the vicinity of NPPs,
together with data on several cancer registration systems, the types of
reactors found in other countries and the associated radioactive discharges
and estimated effective radiation doses.
The
differences in NPP design, location and practices, together with differences
in methodology for epidemiological studies means that it is not possible to
draw direct comparisons for various countries. Based on the evidence
presented in the report, COMARE sees no reason to change its previous advice
to Government (as given in the 10th report) that for Great Britain there is
no evidence to support the view of an increased risk of childhood leukaemia
in the vicinity of NPPS.
COMARE recommends that the Government keeps a watching brief in this area
and that there is no reduction in maintenance of effective surveillance
regarding the environment and public health. COMARE recommends the
continuation of a programme of environmental measurements of radioactivity,
including the continued monitoring of carbon-14 discharges (both gaseous and
liquid) for existing nuclear installations and similar programmes for all
new NPPS in the UK. The committee would like to see the monitoring of liquid
carbon-14 discharges from NPPs, as undertaken in the UK, extended to the
rest of the EU.
COMARE recommends that research is continued into all possible causative
mechanisms of leukaemia (both radiation and non-radiation-related) and that
UK-wide resources used for such studies as presented in this report continue
to be supported.

COMARE

The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE)
was established in November 1985 in response to the final recommendation of
the report of the Independent Advisory Group chaired by Sir Douglas Black
(Black, 1984). Its terms of reference are to "assess and advise Government
and the Devolved Authorities on the health effects of natural and man-made
radiation and to assess the adequacy of the available data and the need for
further research".
Over the last 25 years COMARE has published many reports and statements
relating to radiation health risk, many of which are available on its web
site.

_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the
RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit:
http://health.phys.iit.edu