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David L. Wishart, MD
Radiation Therapy Unit Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital Yakima, Wash

JAMA. 1986;255(7):901-902.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The report by Lyman and colleagues¹ in the Aug 2 issue of JAMA may stimulate considerable excitement in South Florida, resulting in demands for public health interventions to neutralize a risk from leukemia that may be induced by radium in groundwater. The political turmoil will be little affected by the fact that the association between radium in groundwater and the incidence of leukemia is only very tenuously suggested and may be impossible to prove.

The incidence of leukemia in Florida is reported to be roughly eight cases per 100,000 population. The SEER (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Result) report² indicates the incidence of lung cancer in two southern areas, Atlanta and New Orleans, varies from 88 to 113 cases per 100,000 population. One might suppose the incidence is similar in Florida and is eight to ten times that of the reported incidence of leukemia.

It is . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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