| Title |
Drinking water chlorination and cancer – a historical cohort study in Finland
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Cancer Causes & Control, March 1997
|
| DOI | 10.1023/a:1018420229802 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Meri Koivusalo, Eero Pukkala, Terttu Vartiainen, Jouni J.K. Jaakkola, Timo Hakulinen |
| Abstract |
Chlorination of water rich in organic material is known to produce a complex mixture of organochlorine compounds, including mutagenic and carcinogenic substances. A historical cohort study of 621,431 persons living in 56 towns in Finland was conducted in order to assess the relation between historical exposure to drinking water mutagenicity and cancer. Exposure to quantity of mutagenicity was calculated on the basis of historical information of raw water quality and water treatment practices using an empirical equation relating mutagenicity and raw water pH, KMnO4 value and chlorine dose. Cancer cases were derived from the population-based Finnish Cancer Registry and follow-up time in the study started in 1970. Age, gender, time period, social class, and urban residence were taken into account in Poisson regression analysis of the observed numbers of cases using expected numbers of cases standardized for age and gender as a basis. Excess risks were calculated using a continuous variable for mutagenicity for 3,000 net rev/l exposure representing an average exposure in a town using chlorinated surface water. After adjustment for confounding, a statistically significant excess risk was observed for women in cancers of the bladder (relative risk [RR] = 1.48, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-2.18), rectum (RR = 1.38, CI = 1.03-1.85), esophagus (RR = 1.90, CI = 1.02-3.52), and breast (RR = 1.11, CI = 1.01-1.22). These results support the magnitude of excess risks for rectal and bladder cancers found in earlier epidemiologic studies on chlorination by-products and give additional information on exposure-response concerning the mutagenic compounds. Nevertheless, due to the public health importance of water chlorination, uncertainty related to the magnitude of observed risks, and the fact that excess risks were observed only for women, the results of the study should be interpreted with caution. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 5 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2 | 40% |
| United States | 1 | 20% |
| Unknown | 2 | 40% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 5 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 54 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 3 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 50 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 20% |
| Researcher | 11 | 20% |
| Professor | 5 | 9% |
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 7% |
| Student > Master | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 8 | 15% |
| Unknown | 11 | 20% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 11 | 20% |
| Engineering | 8 | 15% |
| Environmental Science | 5 | 9% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 7% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 12 | 22% |
| Unknown | 11 | 20% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 15. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 August 2023.
All research outputs
#2,329,750
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Cancer Causes & Control
#236
of 2,266 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#960
of 29,045 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cancer Causes & Control
#1
of 6 outputs
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