HC Deb 14 January 1993 vol 216 cc804-5W
Mrs. Roe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice she has received from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment on the study by Draper et al. published on 9 January about the incidence of cancer in young people living in the vicinity of Sellafield.

Mr. Sackville

The Government welcome publication of this study. It was commissioned by the Department at the request of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment following an earlier report which concluded that there was a higher than expected incidence of leukaemia in young people living in the vicinity of Sellafield over the period 1953 to 1983. This latest study's main finding was that the incidence of cancer in the age group 0 to 24 years in the village of Seascale has continued to be higher than expected when compared with national experience and that for the whole period 1953 to 1990 this was unlikely to have arisen by chance.

The Government are grateful to COMARE for its advice. In summary, the committee accepts the study findings while acknowledging that studies of this type cannot determine the cause of the raised incidence of cancer in young people in Seascale. The committee also considers that the level of concern raised by the earlier report is maintained by this study. COMARE notes that appropriate studies commissioned by the Government to elucidate the position are proceeding. These studies comprise epidemiological, dosimetric and laboratory- based research programmes which COMARE will wish to consider alongside this latest study as part of their current review of the situation around Sellafield. The Government look forward to receiving COMARE's full report on cancer incidence in the vicinity of Sellafield.

Following is the full text of COMA RE's advice:

COMARE statement on Sellafield epidemiology study 1. In September 1989 the Department of Health requested COMARE to review the epidemiological data concerning cancer in the vicinity of Sellafield. At COMARE's request the Department of Health commissioned a study from a group of United Kingdom independent experts including Dr. Gerald Draper, Professors Cartwright and Craft. The results of the study (Draper et al BMJ reference) have now been published and considered by COMARE. 2. The Report of an Independent Advisory Group, under the Chairmanship of Sir Douglas Black, had previously investigated the incidence of cancer in West Cumbria in the period 1953 to 1983. Draper et al review this earlier period and extends it to the end of 1990. They have considered, in particular, leukaemia and other cancers occurring at ages 0–24 years including four patients in this age range with cancer being diagnosed between 1984 and 1990. One Seascale resident is known to have developed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 1991, which is too recent for analysis in the current study. 3. Draper et al report that the incidence of cancer arising in the age group 0–24 years in the village of Seascale has continued to be higher than the level expected on the basis of experience in the rest of the United Kingdom. Assessing the whole period from 1953 to 1990, the authors conclude that the pattern of cancer incidence in Seascale is very unlikely to have arisen by chance, although this possibility cannot be entirely excluded. 4. Analysis of information for the surrounding districts of Copeland and Allerdale, or for the rest of Cumbria, does not show an excess cancer incidence. 5. COMARE welcomed the study and has accepted its findings. In comparing the information from the period 1953 to 1983 with 1984 to 1990, the Committee noted that the four new cases identified were: two patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, one patient with Hodgkin's disease, and one patient with pinealoma. There were no additional cases of lymphoid leukaemia in the latter period although this was the most frequent type of cancer among the cases in the earlier report. The Committee also noted:

  1. (i) lymphoid leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurring in childhood should be considered as a continuous spectrum of disease and therefore agreed that it was appropriate to combine them in the analyses.
  2. (ii) there is no body of medical data to suggest that Hodgkin's disease or pinealoma can be caused by radiation.
6. COMA RE wish to include these new findings as part of their current review of the incidence of cancer in young people in the vicinity of Sellafield. The Committee considers that the level of concern raised by Sir Douglas Black's report is maintained by the new information provided by Draper et al. The Committee acknowledge that studies of this type cannot directly address the problem of determining the cause of the raised cancer incidence in Seascale, which remains unknown. The Committee is aware of the current hypotheses which have been made regarding the causation of these cancers and note that appropriate studies to address the issues are proceeding.