Just found this interesting article: <http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040819/12/f0pow.html> which discusses a study that indicates an increased risk of Leukemia for children living near a petrol station. It suggests that it's due to the benzene in the petrol.
Yet another nail in the coffin of mineral fuels maybe? Or perhaps more like another growth ring on the tree with which the coffin will eventually be made. Full text below. Donald Leukaemia risk for kids living near petrol stops By Gaia Vince Children who live next to a petrol station are four times more likely to develop acute leukaemia than other children in the same area, suggests new research. The small study, carried out at four sites in France, looked at 280 children with leukaemia and a control group of 285 children, all younger than 15 years. The childrenåâs mothers were given a questionnaire relating to their lifestyle. The researchers found that children living next door to a petrol station or automotive garage had a quadrupled risk of leukaemia. And the risk of developing acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia was seven times greater compared with children who lived in the same area, but not next to a petrol station. åãI was very surprised that living near a petrol station had such a high risk,åä says Jacqueline Clavel from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Villejuif, France, who led the study. åãThe longer the child had lived in the vicinity of the petrol station, the higher their relative risk was. Prenatal exposure also raised the relative risk.åä Rubber factory Clavel suspects benzene in petrol caused the rise in cancer risk, although she says further studies need to be done. åãThe link between benzene and leukaemia has been shown for workers in a rubber factory, but the benzene levels are very high in that instance. Exposure to benzene is much lower for children near a petrol station, so it was surprising,åä she told New Scientist . Richard McNally, from Cancer Research UK's paediatric and familial cancer research group, says that while the findings are interesting, they should be treated with caution. åãThe study examined a relatively small number of leukaemia cases, and the fact that it was based on interviews leaves it open to influences such as inaccuracy in the recollections of the mothers interviewed,åä he says. Although it is the most common childhood cancer in the western world, acute leukaemia is rare, with four new cases per 100,000 children each year. The majority of cases occur in two-year-old infants, but more than 80 per cent of children make a full recovery. Journal reference: Occupational and Environmental Medicine (vol 61, p 773) ===== -- 43 - slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything. ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/