In this study, the authors evaluated the risk of respiratory
cancer related to
environmental pollutants among a population that resided near a sewage plant in Prato, Italy. Subjects included
lung cancer deaths (1987-1996) and incident cases of lung and
laryngeal cancers (1987-1994) among residents of Prato. The authors used the mortality or incidence rates for the entire population of Prato (by gender and by 5-yr age group) to calculate the expected cases in each census unit. Data were analyzed and adjusted for an index of social deprivation (Stone test). Among males, the excess risk of
lung cancer mortality decreased as distance from the plant increased for 2 time periods (1987-1996 [p = .008] and 1990-1996 [p = .030]) and for
lung cancer incidence during 1987-1994 (p = .011). Similar results were obtained when sewage plant workers were excluded from the analysis. A similar, but not statistically significant, trend was observed among female incident
lung cancer cases, as well as among male incident
laryngeal cancer cases. Despite methodological limitations common to geographic studies, the results were consistent with those previously published on mortality excesses for
lung cancer among plant workers under study. The role of
environmental pollutants as a risk for respiratory
cancer must be further clarified with additional epidemiological studies and an environmental monitoring program.