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Impacts of land use on spatial distribution of mortality rates of cancers caused by naturally occurring asbestos

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 22, pages 516–521 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

This study investigated the spatial distributions of mortality rates of six cancers: mesothelioma, lung cancer, intestinal cancer, nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, liver cancer, and stomach cancer in Dayao using Geographic Information Systems. Relationships between the mortality rates of the six cancers and land use patterns were investigated by Pearson Correlation Coefficients. The results indicated that the mortality rates of nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, lung cancer, intestinal cancer, and mesothelioma were significantly associated with outcropped asbestos. Both the proportions of farmland and urban area were positively related to the mortality rates of nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, lung cancer, intestinal cancer, and mesothelioma, and significant negative correlations were found between the proportion of forestland and nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer and intestinal cancer. It can be concluded that naturally occurring asbestos may significantly elevate the mortality rates of nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer, intestinal cancer, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Moreover, higher proportions of farmland, urban area, and lower proportions of forested land may elevate the mortality rate of the four cancers.

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Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (project no. 41071064). We thankthe Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Dayao County, Yunnan. We also thank the Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RESDC), for providing the data of land use patterns of Dayao.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Binggan Wei, Bixiong Ye, Jiangping Yu, Biao Zhang & Linsheng Yang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Binggan Wei & Biao Zhang

  3. Epidemiology Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, China,

    Xianjie Jia

  4. Dongying Environmental Protection Agency, Dongying, Shandong, China,

    Xiuwu Zhang

  5. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Dayao County, Yunnan, China

    Rongan Lu

  6. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Chuxiong state, Yunnan, China

    Tingrong Dong

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  1. Binggan Wei
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Correspondence to Linsheng Yang.

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Wei, B., Jia, X., Ye, B. et al. Impacts of land use on spatial distribution of mortality rates of cancers caused by naturally occurring asbestos. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 22, 516–521 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.63

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