Cancer incidence among former Love Canal residents.
BACKGROUND
The Love Canal was a rectangular 16-acre, 10-ft-deep chemical waste landfill situated in a residential neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York. This seriously contaminated site came to public attention in 1978. Only one prior study examined cancer incidence in former residents of the Love Canal neighborhood (LC).


OBJECTIVE
In this study we aimed to describe cancer incidence in former LC residents from 1979 to 1996 and to investigate whether it differs from that of New York State (NYS) and Niagara County (NC).


METHODS
From 1978 to 1982, we interviewed 6,181 former residents, and 5,052 were eligible to be included in this study. In 1996, we identified 304 cancer diagnoses in this cohort using the NYS Cancer Registry. We compared LC cancer incidence with that of NYS and NC using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs), and we compared risks within the LC group by potential exposure to the landfill using survival analysis.


RESULTS
SIRs were elevated for cancers of the bladder [SIR(NYS) = 1.44; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.91-2.16] and kidney (SIR(NYS) = 1.48; 95% CI, 0.76-2.58). Although CIs included 1.00, other studies have linked these cancers to chemicals similar to those found at Love Canal. We also found higher rates of bladder cancer among residents exposed as children, based on two cases.


CONCLUSIONS
In explaining these excess risks, the role of exposure to the landfill is unclear given such limitations as a relatively small and incomplete study cohort, imprecise exposure measurements, and the exclusion of cancers diagnosed before 1979. Given the relatively young age of the cohort, further surveillance is warranted.
Gensburg
Lenore J
LJ
University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA.
Pantea
Cristian
C
Kielb
Christine
C
Fitzgerald
Edward
E
Stark
Alice
A
Kim
Nancy
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D055884:Chemical Hazard Release / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009518:New York; D055815:Young Adult