Being near an atomic power plant can cause leukemia

A new study shows that "a large number of cases" of children with leukemia appeared around 19 French nuclear power plants between 2003 and 2007, a researcher said Monday. From.

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However, the incidence of large cancers has disappeared, when data is collected over a longer period of time, according to researcher Jacqueline Clavel of the French Center for Population and Epidemiology Research.

A group of French scientists, headed by Clavel, found 14 cases of children with leukocytes living in the area of ​​nuclear facilities 5km, over a period of 6 years. This figure has doubled the rate of white blood disease nationwide, in the relevant age group.

"When we looked at the 1990-2007 period, this high infection rate no longer existed," Clavel said in an interview with AFP about the group's research, which was published last week by the International Journal. About Cancer.

"It is impossible to establish a link between cancer and very small amounts of radioactive ion emitted from nuclear power plants - when they operate normally."

However, she said that a significant increase in the number of cases of leukemia in recent times is an indispensable factor."The increase is limited to areas with a radius of 5km from factories and outside this area there is no such phenomenon," she said by phone. "It does not depend on the specific type of nuclear power plant."

In the study, Clavel and colleagues evaluated that elevated cancer status was caused by two factors, being too close to an atomic power source and possibly exposed to some degree of radiation. Very low doses of radiation exposure, coupled with the fact that the risk of exposure does not diminish with geographical distance, "does not bring conclusions to the point that radiation is the cause of increased cancer. up, " she said, calling for further research.

One explanation is now getting approval among epidemiologists who specialize in the study of a social form of disease - unusually high population turnover around nuclear power plants. .

This constant flow of people will bring new viruses and pathogenic bacteria, which means residents here will be susceptible to strange diseases that they have no resistance in the body.

This "population mix" may also be the basis for the rise in children with white blood disease, which has been identified as the cause of similar phenomena near two power plants. death in England and one in Germany.

The hypothesis for this scenario is that non-radioactive white blood disease caused by a young child infects some strange virus."The white blood disease in children belongs to a larger group of patients, in which the young body has had unusual reactions to some common infections," said Leo Kinlen, a researcher at the Cancer Research Unit. The letter at Oxford University said in a recent study.

"However, people often think emotionally that the disease is caused by radioactivity and dismisses the possibility of it forming from common infections."

In the early 1980s, radioactivity was immediately considered the culprit, when scientists discovered 9 white blood diseases and lymph nodes - nearly 10 times higher than expected - near Sellafield nuclear treatment plant. in Cumbria, North West England. However, subsequent studies were unable to establish a link between them.

Recently, a study in 2008, during the period from 1980-2003, found that children living in areas with a radius of less than 5 km around 16 German nuclear power plants have a high prevalence of leukemia. twice as high as normal.

Explaining how the results of this type of study are still controversial, with some experts saying the "blending population" hypothesis is not very suitable for the case in Germany.

Statistically, having quite a few cases of infection makes it difficult for researchers to point out the causal relationship with the pathogen."We need to work on an international scale to be able to capture larger numbers of cases , " Clavel said, citing population mixes as "a potential factor" that causes disease.