An ecological study of cancer incidence in Port Hope, Ontario from 1992 to 2007

Abstract

A plant processing radium and uranium ores has been operating in the town of Port Hope since 1932. Given the nuclear industry located in the community and ongoing public health concerns, cancer incidence rates in Port Hope were studied for a recent 16 year period (1992-2007) for continued periodic cancer incidence surveillance of the community. The cancer incidence in the local community for all cancers combined was similar to the Ontario population, health regions with similar socio-economic characteristics in Ontario and in Canada, and the Canadian population. No statistically significant differences in childhood cancer, leukaemia or other radiosensitive cancer incidence were observed, with the exception of statistically significant elevated lung cancer incidence among women. However, the statistical significance was reduced or disappeared when the comparison was made to populations with similar socio-economic characteristics. These findings are consistent with previous ecological, case-control and cohort studies conducted in Port Hope, environmental assessments, and epidemiological studies conducted elsewhere on populations living around similar facilities or exposed to similar environmental contaminants. Although the current study covered an extended period of time, the power to detect risk at the sub-regional level of analysis was limited since the Port Hope population is small (16,500). The study nevertheless indicated that large differences in cancer incidence are not occurring in Port Hope compared to other similar communities and the general population.

Multiple myeloma epidemiology and patient geographic distribution in Canada: A population study

“…We observed clustering of high‐incidence FSAs in Port Hope and its surrounding area and also found the single FSA associated with Elliot Lake to have a significantly higher incidence than the national average. However, Port Hope is a well‐studied site for long‐term effects of ionizing radiation exposure because of its long and ongoing history as a site of refinement and handling of uranium ore, and studies thus far have not shown an increased risk for malignancies in the general population of this city or in a cohort of its uranium workers …”

“…However, Port Hope is a well-studied site for long-term effects of ionizing radiation exposure because of its long and ongoing history as a site of refinement and handling of uranium ore, and studies thus far have not shown an increased risk for malignancies in the general population of this city or in a cohort of its uranium workers. 40,41 A major limitation to this study is that our data represent crude incidence and mortality rates because the details necessary to adjust for known MM risk factors such as age, sex, and race within specific geographic parameters were not available in the large data sets that we analyzed. As such, variations in incidence and mortality that we elicited between different regions in Canada are subject to a number of differences in demographics and perhaps socioeconomic status.…”