§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies(a) are taking place and (b) he proposes into levels of leukaemia and related disorders in the Newbury district. [39717]
§ Mr. HoramThe Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment—COMARE—has considered allegations of increased incidence of childhood cancer around a number of nuclear establishments. Its third report considered whether there was any association in local childhood cancer incidence in west Berkshire and north Hampshire and exposure to radioactivity from the nuclear establishments which were then known as the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston, the Royal Ordnance factory, Burghfield, and the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell. The report did not include RAF Greenham Common.
In this report COMARE recommended that a study on the geographical distribution of childhood cancer incidence on a nationwide basis should be carried out. This study is currently under way and COMARE will consider all new data now available in assessing whether there is an association between local levels of contamination and cancer incidence.