From The Sunday Mirror from 24th August, 2000

INCINERATORS DOUBLE A CHILD'S CANCER RISK

By ROGER DOBSON

CHILDREN who live within three miles of Incinerators are twice as likely to develop cancer, according to new research.

Scientists who studied cancer rates among children living around 379 municipal and hospital incinerators believe cancer-causing compounds from the smoke may be to blame.

One theory is that mothers-to-be breathe in carcinogens which then invade the DNA Of the unborn baby, causing cancer. Professor George Knox, who led the research, said children living near municipal incinerators had double the risk of childhood cancer while those living close to hospital incinerators had a risk 1.6 times greater than normal.

Files of 22,000 cancer deaths among the under-16s over a 27-year period were analysed In the research and home addresses at birth and death recorded. The addresses were then cross-matched with the location of 72 municipal Incinerators and 307 hospital incinerators.

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