CHILDHOOD INCIDENCE OF ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA AND EXPOSURE TO BROADCAST RADIATION IN SYDNEY - A 2ND LOOK

Introduction: Recent findings of an apparent association between incid ence of childhood leukaemia and radio frequency radiation (RFR) from t elevision transmission antennas in Sydney, NSW, are examined. Methods: Incidence of childhood (0-14 years) acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (AL L) at the local government area (LGA) level is related to estimated ex posure levels of RFR from television transmission antennas, using Pois son regression techniques. Results: Most of the association between AL L incidence and television transmission RFR is shown to be the result of an influential observation: one of the highly exposed LGAs contribu tes all the excess, while in a similarly exposed LGA childhood ALL inc idence was found to be no higher than the rate expected for NSW. With the influential observation excluded from the analysis, no positive co rrelation between exposure to RFR and leukaemia is evident. Conversely , under the assumption of an association with RFR, the low probability of the observed incident cases in LGAs under conditions of relatively high exposure to RFR conflicts with the assumption of an effect. Conc lusion: The apparent association between childhood ALL incidence and R FR radiation from television towers is weaker when an LGA-level analys is is conducted.