Leukemia cases linked to fathers' radiation dose

Article Abstract:

A relatively high incidence of childhood leukemia has been observed in areas around Sellafield, England, near a nuclear waste reprocessing plant. It is thought that the development of this leukemia was due to radiation exposure to fathers who worked in the plant, and occurred before the conception of the children. This is the first report of cancer in children that has been attributed to parental exposure to radiation. There has been some previous evidence of this happening in animals. A cluster of leukemia cases occurred in the Sellafield area from 1950 to 1985. Fifty-two cases of leukemia and 22 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were reported in young people under 25 years old. Various factors were examined to explain the tenfold increase of incidence of these cancers in this area. Statistical data showed that the development of cancer was not due to environmental exposure to discharge from the nuclear plant. However, there was a connection between the development of cancer and radiation exposure of the children's fathers who worked at the plant. If the fathers received a total of more than 100 milli-Sieverts (mSv), or more than 10 mSv of radiation in the six months before conception, the offspring were seven to eight times more likely to develop leukemia. Children of the survivors of the atomic bombs dropped in Japan do not have an increased incidence of leukemia. The difference between the Japanese children and the offspring of fathers exposed to radiation in Sellafield may be due to different physiological effects of a single large dose of radiation, compared with the accumulative effects of low level radiation over time. The findings in Sellafield are still being examined and the company is taking measures to reduce the amount of radiation exposure to workers. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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Call for further study of alleged leukaemia link

Article Abstract:

A recent and controversial study showed that there was a higher incidence of childhood leukemia in children whose fathers worked at a nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield, England. The UK Committee on Medical Aspects for Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) has recommended to the Department of Health that additional research is needed to examine the association between the radiation exposure of parents and the increased incidence of leukemia in their offspring. Similar studies examining other clusters of leukemia cases in areas surrounding nuclear plants in Dounreay, Scotland, Aldermaston, England and Burghfield, England will be completed as soon as possible. Other links between radiation workers and childhood cancer are being examined. COMARE has accepted the validity of the Sellafield study which was conducted by Martin Gardner and his colleagues, but stated that their conclusions are based on a few cases and the study did not prove that the radiation exposure caused the cancer. The development of the cancer could be due to damage to the sperm of the male workers as a result of radiation exposure, as suggested by Gardner, or from chemical exposure in addition to radiation, or from accumulations of radioactive material in the workers' bodies. It is not known if the high incidence of leukemia correlates with fathers' exposures to a high lifetime dose, or with a lower dose received just prior to conception. Further research is needed to understand the reason for this increased incidence of cancer so that recommendations can be made to protect radiation workers. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Tumors, Radiation-induced, Radiation carcinogenesis

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Living with nuclear radiation

Article Abstract:

A relatively high incidence of childhood leukemia has been observed in areas around Sellafield, England, near a nuclear waste reprocessing plant. It is thought that the leukemia was caused by radiation exposure to fathers who worked in the plant, which occurred before their children were conceived. The study showed that 52 cases of leukemia and 22 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurred in people under 25 who lived near the Sellafield reprocessing plant. Data were gathered over a 36-year period, from 1950 to 1985. However, the number of cases in this study is not large enough to definitively conclude that the chance of developing leukemia and lymphoma in the Sellafield area exceeds the probability of developing these diseases elsewhere in Great Britain. There is no proof that the exposure of men to radiation leads to the development of leukemia in their children. This report on the increased incidence of leukemia should create additional pressure to lower the level of radiation exposure to plant workers. A better understanding of the incidence of cancer in the Sellafield area is needed. Records on the amounts of radiation exposure to the workers are kept by British Nuclear Fuels Limited, the operators of the reprocessing plant. These records are complete and will provide the data necessary to answer questions such as how much radiation the fathers received, and whether the exposure associated with leukemia was accumulated over a period of time, or occurred in the few months prior to conception. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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