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Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH; Carolyn G. Lyman, RN; Wallace Johnson

JAMA. 1985;254(5):621-626.

Abstract
Radiation exposure, including the ingestion of radium, has been causally associated with leukemia in man. Groundwater samples from 27 counties on or near Florida phosphate lands were found to exceed 5 pCi/L total radium in 12.4% of measurements. The incidence of leukemia was greater in those counties with high levels of radium contamination (>10% of the samples contaminated) than in those with low levels of contamination. Rank correlation coefficients of 56 and 45 were observed between the radium contamination level and the incidence of total leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia, respectively. The standardized incidence density ratio for those in high-contamination counties was 1.5 for total leukemia and 2.0 for acute myeloid leukemia. Further investigation is necessary, however, before a causal relationship between groundwater radium content and human leukemia can be established.

(JAMA 1985;254:621-626)

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Internal Medicine and the H. Lee Moffit Hospital and Cancer Research Institute at the University of South Florida (Dr Lyman), the J. A. Haley Veterans Hospital (Dr Lyman and Ms Lyman), Tampa; and the Office of Radiation Control, Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Tallahassee (Mr Johnson).

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Division of Medical Oncology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, 12901 N 30th St, Tampa, FL 33612 (Dr Lyman).

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