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Cancer incidence in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Taiwan: a population-based study

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Abstract

Numerous antinuclear demonstrations reveal that the public is anxious about the potential health effects caused by nuclear power plants. The purpose of this study is to address the question “Is there a higher cancer incidence rate in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Taiwan?” The Taiwan Cancer Registry database from 1979 to 2003 was used to compare the standardized incidence rate of the top four cancers with strong evidence for radiation risks between the “plant-vicinity” with those “non-plant-vicinity” groups. All cancer sites, five-leading cancers in Taiwan, and gender-specific cancers were also studied. We also adopted different observation time to compare the incidence rate of cancers between two groups to explore the impact of the observation period. The incidences of leukemia, thyroid, lung, and breast cancer were not significantly different between two groups, but cervix uteri cancer showed higher incidence rates in the plant-vicinity group. The incidence of cervical cancer was not consistently associated with the duration of plant operation, according to a multiyear period comparison. Although there was higher incidence in cervix cancer in the plant-vicinity group, our findings did not provide the crucial evidence that nuclear power plants were the causal factor for some cancers with strong evidence for radiation risks.

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Acknowledgments

Both the present study fund and the data sources used are sponsored by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan (BHP94-CH3-001). The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors, who are responsible for its content, and do not necessarily represent the views of Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shiow-Ing Wang, Chih-Liang Yaung, Long-Teng Lee & Shang-Jyh Chiou

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  1. Shiow-Ing Wang
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  2. Chih-Liang Yaung
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  3. Long-Teng Lee
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  4. Shang-Jyh Chiou
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Correspondence to Shang-Jyh Chiou.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Wang, SI., Yaung, CL., Lee, LT. et al. Cancer incidence in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Taiwan: a population-based study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 571–580 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5289-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5289-6

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