Leukaemia mortality around French nuclear sites.

This study was designed to investigate leukaemia mortality in the population under the age of 25 residing around the 13 French nuclear sites operating in 1985. In four geographical zones defined according to the distance from the site, 503 exposed communes were identified and followed up between 1968 and 1989. A total of 4,132,000 person-years of observation were accumulated. The number of leukaemia deaths observed (69) did not differ from the expected number (86.15) estimated according to national mortality statistics. There was no difference in the risks of leukaemia mortality according to sex, age, type of installation and no trend with an increasing distance from installations.