Children living too close to industrial plants in Great Britain can face an increased risk of developing cancer, a large scale study found. The study, which examined data for 22,458 children who died of leukaemia and ‘solid’ cancers, found the cancer risk is greatest within a few hundred yards of pollutions sources and tapers with distance. Excesses were found in children whose addresses were close to workplaces including oil facilities and major uses of petroleum products, users of kilns and furnaces and airfields, railways, highways and harbours.

EG Knox and EA Gilman. Hazard proximities of childhood cancers in Great Britain from 1953-80, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, volume 51, pages 151-159, 1997.