Cancer incidence patterns in the Denver metropolitan area in relation to the Rocky Flats plant

Abstract

This study considered whether geographic patterns of cancer suggest any relation with Rocky Flats, a facility located near Denver, Colorado that processes plutonium components for nuclear weapons. The study was based upon cancer incidence data for the years 1969 to 1971 and 1979 to 1981, and census tract data for 1970 and 1980. Data for 1979 to 1981 showed little association with Rocky Flats, even though considerations of the timing of releases of radioactivity from the plant and cancer latency indicate that data from this period should be more indicative of an effect of Rocky Flats than data from the earlier period. The explanatory variable found to be most closely associated with cancer incidence was an urban factor measured by distance from the Colorado State Capitol located in downtown Denver. Indications of correlations of cancer incidence with proximity to Rocky Flats largely disappeared for both time periods when analyses were stratified by this urban factor. This negative finding was not surprising because persons living in the vicinity of the plant have been shown to have no more plutonium in their tissues than persons living in other areas of Colorado.