Leukemia rates in children and young people are higher near nuclear facilities, according to a review published in the July issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina performed a meta-analysis on 17 papers covering 136 nuclear sites around the world, including the UK, Canada, France, the USA, Germany, Japan and Spain.
They found that death rates for children up to the age of nine were elevated by between five and 24 percent, dependent on their distance to the nuclear facility. For children and young people up to the age of 25, the increase was from two to 18 percent.
However, the researchers note that there weren't excess rates very close to the facilities according to the dose-response studies that they analyzed.
