Cancer in the Children of Radiation Workers

British Medical Journal 1997;315:1181-1188


A 1990 study published in the British Medical Journal reported higher incidence of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the children of fathers who worked at a nuclear power plant in the U.K. [BMJ 1990;300-423-429]. The study received world-wide attention. The British Medical Journal called this paper "one of the BMJ's most important papers in the past 15 years."

Now researchers report the results of a study designed to test the claims of the 1990 study. And guess what? The 1990 study has now gone the way of alchemy and astrology.

In the new study of almost 36,000 cases of childhood cancer, researchers did find an increased incidence of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among the children of radiation workers. BUT the increased incidence was NOT related to radiation doses received by the workers and the greatest risk occurred among children of workers who received radiation doses below the level of detection.


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