News

Leukaemia cluster worry

Better information is needed on the risk children face of developing cancer if they live near nuclear installations, according to the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE).

COMARE recently confirmed that the number of leukaemia cases among pre-school children living within 10 kilometres of two military plants dealing with nuclear warhead material, at Aldermaston and Burghfield, had doubled between 1971 and 1985.

It also concluded that radioactive discharges were too low to have caused the increase in leukaemia, because so such increase had occurred around the Harwell Nuclear research centre, despite its greater emissions of radiation. Chemicals and viruses, as well as genetic predisposition, are listed as possible causes of the leukaemia clusters.

Information about childhood leukaemia’s is inadequate, and COMARE wants to know about the place of birth as well as the place of diagnosis of children who develop these diseases.