Correlation of cancer incidence with groundwater geochemistry in northern Finland

Abstract

The correlations of age-adjusted incidences of various forms of cancer with the geochemical composition of well water and other forms of groundwater in northern Finland have been studied using standard statistical methods. Available geochemical maps showing the hardness of the water and its uranium, iron and nitrate content and maps depicting the areal distribution of the incidences of ten forms of cancer, were decoded point by point to numerical concentration or incidence values by placing a transparent sheet carrying a regular rectangular grid over each. The grid covering the north of Finland (north of 65 ° N latitude) comprised 261 observation points distributed at regular intervals of about 25 km on the ground.The calculated Spearman product-moment and rank correlation coefficients between the geochemical and medical variables suggest that a strong, statistically significant (p<0.001) positive correlation prevails between the hardness of the water and several forms of cancer, especially total cancer (all forms of cancer combined) in the female population (r = 0.66). On the other hand, iron and, somewhat surprisingly, nitrates, which are commonly thought to promote cancer, show a low degree of correlation with the forms of cancer studied. Also, contrary to expectation, a negative correlation between most forms of cancer with groundwater uranium is indicated, a result which, because of its unexpectedness, calls for further research work based on larger data sets before a conclusion can be drawn that it can be interpreted as an implication of a trend that an appropriate level of uranium in the groundwater and the resulting gentle dose of natural radioactive irradiation can help to prevent the early development of cancer in human tissues and cells.The positive correlation between water hardness and most forms of cancer studied suggests that hard drinking water may be an initiator and promoter of cancer, although it is admitted that the establishment of a positive correlation between the geochemical and medical variables does not necessarily prove a cause-and-effect relationship between them.