Childhood cancer mortality in relation to the St Lucie nuclear power station

Abstract

An unusual county-wide excess of childhood cancers of brain and other nervous tissue in the late 1990s in St Lucie County, Florida, prompted the Florida Department of Health to conduct a case-control study within the county assessing residential chemical exposures. No clear associations were found, but claims were then made that the release of radioactive substances such as strontium 90 from the St Lucie nuclear power station, which began operating in 1976, might have played a role. To test the plausibility of this hypothesis, we extended by 17 years a previous study of county mortality conducted by the National Cancer Institute. Rates of total cancer, leukaemia and cancer of brain and other nervous tissue in children and across all ages in St Lucie County were evaluated with respect to the years before and after the nuclear power station began operation and contrasted with rates in two similar counties in Florida (Polk and Volusia). Over the prolonged period 1950-2000, no unusual patterns of childhood cancer mortality were found for St Lucie County as a whole. In particular, no unusual patterns of childhood cancer mortality were seen in relation to the start-up of the St Lucie nuclear power station in 1976. Further, there were no significant differences in mortality between the study and comparison counties for any cancer in the time period after the power station was in operation. Relative rates for all childhood cancers and for childhood leukaemia were higher before the nuclear facility began operating than after, while rates of brain and other nervous tissue cancer were slightly lower in St Lucie County than in the two comparison counties for both time periods. Although definitive conclusions cannot be drawn from descriptive studies, these data provide no support for the hypothesis that the operation of the St Lucie nuclear power station has adversely affected the cancer mortality experience of county residents.

A Cluster Analysis of Pediatric Cancer Incidence Rates in Florida: 2000–2010

“…In the late 1990s, an unusually large number of pediatric cancers for brain/CNS was reported in St. Lucie County, with claims that releases of Strontium 90 from the St. Lucie nuclear power station may have been linked to the high rate of cancers. Boice et al (2005) studied mortality rates for the period 1950-2000, without being able to identify associations between cancer mortality rates and the operation of the St. Lucie nuclear power station for St. Lucie County. The other investigation of a suspected brain cancer cluster in this region occurred in Palm Beach County in 2009, known as The Acreage.…”

Risk factors for pediatric glioma

“…Interestingly, a study in Florida found no connection between the increase in childhood CNS tumours in the 1990s and the installation of a nearby nuclear plant in 1976. [28]…”

The Role of Perinatal and Other Prognostic Factors in the Appearance of Brain Tumors in Childhood

“…Radiation exposure is probably the most studied anthropogenic factor and it has been clearly demonstrated through the years that especially radiation applied to children either for therapeutic reasons (e.g. radiotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia) or diagnostic radiation exposure is associated with high and low respectively brain tumor risk [25][26][27][28]. This paper describes the results of a case-control study of brain tumors in children that was conducted in "Agia Sofia" Children's Hospital of Athens, Greece between 2007 and 2012.…”