A comparison of the risks of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the first generation offspring (F1) of the Danish Thorotrast patients with those observed in other studies of parental pre-conception irradiation

The high doses of alpha-particle radiation which Thorotrast delivers to the testes makes the study of offspring of patients, who were administered this diagnostic contrast medium, particularly relevant to the controversy regarding childhood leukaemia in the offspring of the male Sellafield workforce, as it has been suggested that the alpha-particle dose from actinides may, in part, account for the observed association between paternal pre-conception external irradiation and leukaemia. The risks of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphona found among the offspring of the male Danish cohort of neurosurgical patients injected with Thorotrast for cerebral arteriography are compared with those observed in the offspring of the Sellafield (western Cumbria), Ontario and Scottish radiation workers and in the offspring of the Japanese atomic bomb survivors. Risks are compared using linear and exponential forms of a relative risk model. (author)