Chernobyl disaster caused cancer cases in Sweden

More than 800 people in northern Sweden may have cancer as a result of the fallout that spewed over the region after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, according to a new study by Swedish scientists.

"This is the first study to suggest increased cancer rates because of Chernobyl outside of the former Soviet Union," said Professor John Ashton, editor of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health which publised the study. "It is important that we see if lessons need to be learned. I have visited the area north of Stockholm, which was exposed to the fall-out. Parts of North Wales and Cumbria were affected by the radiation because of weather conditions at the time."

The long term implications of the nuclear accident are still not known. "It is difficult to monitor as the health impact of exposure to radiation may not become clear for many years into the future," Ashton added.

The study monitored cancer cases among the more than 1.1 million people in the northern parts of Sweden who were exposed to the radioactive fallout between 1988-1996, and found that the cancer risk increased in areas with higher levels of fallout, which was spread by winds.

Of the 22,400 cancer cases among the group, 849 can be statistically attributed to Chernobyl, said Martin Tondel, a researcher at Linkoeping University who headed the study.

Source: www.chernobyl.info