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Exposure to ionising radiations arising from the operation of nuclear installations and cancer mortality
López-Abente, G.; Vidal-Ocabo, E.; Tello-Anchuela, O.; Aragonés, N.; García-Pérez, J.; Pastor-Barriuso, R.; Pérez-Gómez, B.; Jiménez, M. A.; Martín-Valdepeñas, J. M.; García-Talavera, M.; Ramos, L. & Pollán, M
Abstract
World-wide controversy continues to surround
the question of whether exposure to ionising radiations
arising from nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel
cycle facilities could increase the risk of cancer. The
objective was to analyse cancer mortality in towns close to
Spanish nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel cycle
facilities by reference to their history of exposure to artificial
radiation generated by such emissions. An ecological
cancer mortality study was conducted to know the effect of
artificial radiation, estimated taken into account the magnitude
of emissions, in towns ≤30 km of any installation. A
model of atmospheric and aquatic dispersion of radionuclides
was used. As reference, towns within a 50–100 km
radius were matched with exposed by socio-demographic
characteristics. For analysis purposes, log-linear Poisson
models were fitted. The cumulative effective dose was the
measure of exposure. Mortality rates ratios were calculated
for each tumour site. Natural radiation and socio-demographic
matching variables were included in the models,
with ‘installation’ as a random effects term. The estimated
cumulative artificial radiation dose was below 350 μSv for
all sites. For nuclear power plants overall, analysis showed
no positive association with increases in the cumulative
dose. In the joint analysis of radioactive fuel cycle facilities,
however, mortality was observed to rise with increases
in the estimated radiation dose in the case of lung, bone and
colorectal cancer, and in breast cancer among women.
These results would not appear to be due to exposure
arising from the operation of the installations, since were
not reproduced around installations of the same type.
Keywords
Environmental pollution/prevention and control; Epidemiology; Industrial pollution; Nuclear power; Spatial epidemiology
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