Cancer risk associated with residential proximity to industrial sites: A review

In this study, the authors sought to review available epidemiologic studies of cancer risk and its association with residence in a neighborhood charac terized by industrial sites and to discuss options for future study design. The authors attempted to identify all case-control studies published from January 1980 through July 1997 in which investigators examined exposure res ulting from residential proximity to an industrial site neighborhood relati ve to an increased risk of lung, urinary tract, and lymphohematopoietic mal ignancies. During these years, some authors reported significant associatio ns between lung cancer risk and residential proximity to (a) smelters, (b) complex industrial areas, and (c) other localized emission sources. There w as some evidence that leukemia and lymphomas occurred in the neighborhoods that contained industrial sites.