Risk of adverse birth outcomes near landfill sites

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7325.1365

BMJ 2001;323:1365 ( 8 December )

Letters

Risk of adverse birth outcomes near landfill sites

Evidence suggests that it is probably safe for fetuses to develop near landfill sites

Risks from landfill sites can be presented in alternative ways

News stories were handled badly

Local registers provide more accurate information

Evidence suggests that it is probably safe for fetuses to develop near landfill sites

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Elliott et al report a large geographical study of adverse birth outcomes in populations living near landfill sites.¹They conclude that there are small excess risks of congenitalanomalies and low birth weight in suchpopulations.

Although they advise caution when interpreting their results, the study is nevertheless hailed by the press and by environmentalgroups as evidence that living near such sites is hazardous tohealth.² The concerns felt by parents, often with no opportunityto move elsewhere, are fuelled, and perhaps on no grounds. Scientistscontribute to the media generated intrigue in subtle ways. Forexample, the description of the paper in an editorial by McNameeand Dolk as a report "on the risks to fetuses associated withresidence" when "a study of the statistical association betweenreported anomalies and residence" would have been more accurateand less sensationalist.³ Health authorities are left to pickup . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Risk of adverse birth outcomes in populations living near landfill sites: Paul Elliott, David Briggs, Sara Morris, Cornelis de Hoogh, Christopher Hurt, Tina Kold Jensen, Ian Maitland, Sylvia Richardson, Jon Wakefield, and Lars Jarup
BMJ 2001 323: 363-368. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]