Zinc and nitrate in the ground water and the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in Finland.
OBJECTIVE
In Finland, the risk of childhood Type 1 diabetes varies geographically. Therefore we investigated the association between spatial variation of Type 1 diabetes and its putative environmental risk factors, zinc and nitrates.


METHODS
The association was evaluated using Bayesian modelling and the geo-referenced data on diabetes cases and population.


RESULTS
Neither zinc nor nitrate nor the urban/rural status of the area had a significant effect on the variation in incidence of childhood Type 1 diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that although there was no significant difference in incidence between rural and urban areas, there was a tendency to increasing risk of Type 1 diabetes with the increasing concentration of NO3 in drinking water. The fact that no significant effect was found may stem from the aggregated data being too crude to detect it.
National Public Health Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Diabetes and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Helsinki, Finland. elena.moltchanova@ktl.fi
E
E
Moltchanova
M
M
Rytkönen
A
A
Kousa
O
O
Taskinen
J
J
Tuomilehto
M
M
Karvonen
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D009566:Nitrates / Q000633:toxicity*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D014881:Water Supply; D015032:Zinc / Q000633:toxicity*
D009566:Nitrates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D015032:Zinc