Childhood cancer incidence around nuclear installations in Great Britain, 1995-2016
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Concerns remain about potential harmful health impact of nuclear installations. Historical clusters of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (LNHL) in children living near Sellafield and Dounreay installations in Great Britain remain aetiologically unexplained, and the sites remain under surveillance. We assess the risk of LNHL, central nervous system (CNS) and all solid tumours in children 0-14 years living within 25km of nuclear installations in Great Britain, between 1995 and 2016.
Methods: We used a Poisson regression model to estimate the expected number of cases of each cancer type at the community-level in the study population, we present standardised incidence ratios compared to the national population. We used a hierarchical Poisson regression model to estimate the adjusted incidence rate ratios for each cancer type by distance between the community of residence and nearest nuclear installation.
Results: We found no evidence of elevated incidence of LNHL, CNS or all solid tumours in children resident in communities in proximity to nuclear sites. Within the 25km zone, there was no evidence of an increased risk of childhood cancer in communities closer to installations.
Conclusion: In data post-1994, there was no evidence of an increased risk of childhood cancers in communities within 25km of nuclear installations in Great Britain. Previously raised risks are no longer evident.
Methods: We used a Poisson regression model to estimate the expected number of cases of each cancer type at the community-level in the study population, we present standardised incidence ratios compared to the national population. We used a hierarchical Poisson regression model to estimate the adjusted incidence rate ratios for each cancer type by distance between the community of residence and nearest nuclear installation.
Results: We found no evidence of elevated incidence of LNHL, CNS or all solid tumours in children resident in communities in proximity to nuclear sites. Within the 25km zone, there was no evidence of an increased risk of childhood cancer in communities closer to installations.
Conclusion: In data post-1994, there was no evidence of an increased risk of childhood cancers in communities within 25km of nuclear installations in Great Britain. Previously raised risks are no longer evident.
Date Issued
2025-08-01
Date Acceptance
2025-06-09
Citation
International Journal of Epidemiology, 2025, 54 (4)
ISSN
0300-5771
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Epidemiology
Volume
54
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Subjects
Epidemiology
nuclear installations
paediatric cancer
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
dyaf107
Date Publish Online
2025-07-16