Epidemiology
British Journal of Cancer (2002) 86, 1727–1731. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6600277 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 7 June 2002
The United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study of exposure to domestic sources of ionising radiation: 2: gamma radiation
UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators1,2
1UKCCS, University of Leeds, Institute of Epidemiology, 30 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LN, UK
Correspondence: R A Cartwright, E-mail: UKCCS@lrf.leeds.ac.uk
2See end of article for full list of investigators.
Received 19 November 2001; Revised 4 March 2002; Accepted 4 March 2002.
Abstract
This article reports measurements of household levels of gamma and cosmic rays at the addresses of children with cancer at the time of diagnosis and six months before, and of similar data at the addresses of control children. There is no indication of increased risk with increasing dose rates either in matched or unmatched analyses, with or without adjustment for deprivation. Sub-division by diagnostic group did not reveal any association with any specific types of malignancy. Studies of the relationship between household gamma rays and radon concentration show no evidence of any interactions.
Keywords:
childhood cancer, gamma dose rate, radon interactions, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, central nervous system tumours