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The province of Cadiz, Spain, is a highly industrialized area with numerous registered industrial plants, which has led to major concern regarding the possible influence of these facilities on the high rate of cancer-related mortality observed. Our objective was to evaluate the association between digestive cancer mortality and proximity to industrial installations in the province of Cadiz over the period 1992-2014 and to analyse this risk according to different categories of carcinogenic substances. An ecological study at the census tract level was carried out. Mortality due to digestive cancer (involving the oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, colon and rectum) was analysed. Using the spatial Besag, York and Mollié (BYM) approach, we assessed the relative risk of dying from these cancers for people living between 500 m and 5 km from industrial installations. The models were adjusted to account for socioeconomic deprivation. We detected a significant, excess risk of dying due to cancer in the following organs (expressed as relative risk with 95% confidence intervals): colon/rectum (1.13; 1.04-1.22 at 4 km), stomach (1.13; 1.00-1.29 at 2 km), liver (1.28; 1.02-1.61 at 1 km), pancreas (1.19; 1.03-1.39 at 2 km), oral and pharyngeal (1.40; 1.08-1.82 at 1 km), oesophagus (2.05; 1.18-3.56 at 500 m) and gallbladder (2.80; 1.14-6.89 at 500 m) for men; and from colorectal (1.21; 1.00-1.46 at 1 km), stomach (1.15; 1.01-1.31 at 4 km) and liver (1.58; 1.20- 2.07 at 1 km) cancers for women. The results support the hypothesis of an association between several digestive cancers and proximity to polluting industrial plants. Funding: This work was supported by the LONGPOP (Methodologies and Data Mining Techniques for the Analysis of Big Data Based on longitudinal Population and Epidemiological Registers) project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant 676060. JG-P was funded by the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) – EVP-1178/14). Sí

Residential proximity to industrial facilities that release pollutants is a source of exposure to a high number of toxics, many of them known or suspected carcinogens. The objective of the study was to analyze the association between lung, larynx, bladder, and kidney cancer mortality and deprivation in areas proximate to polluting industrial facilities in Cadiz, a highly industrialized province in Spain. An ecological study at census tract level was carried out to estimate the mortality rates associated with deprivation and proximity to polluting industrial facilities (1&ndash, 5 km) using the Besag&ndash, York&ndash, Molli&eacute, model. The results show a negative social gradient for lung and larynx cancers in males and greater risk of lung cancer was observed in the least deprived areas in females. These associations were found regardless the distance to industrial facilities. Increasing excess risk (relative risk, 95% credibility interval) of lung cancer for males (1.09, 1.02&ndash, 1.16 at 5 km vs 1.24, 1.08&ndash, 1.41 at 1 km) and bladder cancer for males (1.11, 1.01&ndash, 1.22 at 5 km vs 1.32, 1.60 at 1 km) and females (1.32, 1.04&ndash, 1.69 at 4 km vs 1.91, 1.28&ndash, 2.86 at 1 km) was found as proximity to polluting industrial facilities increased. For kidney cancer, high risks were observed near such facilities for both sexes. Knowing the possible influence of industrial pollution and social inequalities over cancer risk allows the definition of policies aimed at reducing the risk.

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is responsible for negative health outcomes. The literature shows that socio-economic and lifestyle factors are both related with alcohol consumption during pregnancy; nevertheless, the role of other factors is unclear. The objective of this study is to assess the role that partners' alcohol consumption plays, that played by accessibility to alcohol, and by social influence - when considering pregnant women's behaviour as regards alcohol. It presents the results from a follow-up study of children at risk of negative health outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure; it shows that 68% of pregnant women included in the study reported alcohol consumption during early pregnancy. Results of the analysis showed association with partners' alcohol use, with density of bars and/or restaurants and with the number of pregnant women who drank in the neighbourhood. We concluded that the involvement of men in pregnancy healthcare, and urban policies which target the built environment and improve social networks could be important aspects for the control and prevention alcohol consumption during pregnancy in public health programs. Interventions and recommendations should include an ecological perspective on prenatal community-health programs - focusing on individual, social, and natural factors as well as the built environment. The authors gratefully acknowledge the project “Nacer y Crecer sin OH” (PND 2016. Murcia’s Drug Commissioner Office and the National Plan on Drugs, Ministry of Health, Spain. Prof. Fernando A. López-Hernández, is also grateful for the financial support provided by the projects from the Programa de Ayudas a Grupos de Excelencia de la Región de Murcia, Fundación Séneca(#19884-GERM-15). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Carlos III Institute of Health. Sí

Background Childhood leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. To date, few risk factors related to predisposition have been identified; therefore, new hypotheses should be considered. Objective To explore the possible relationship of residential proximity to urban green spaces on childhood leukemia. Methods We conducted a population-based case control study in the metropolitan area of Madrid from 2000 to 2015. It included 383 incident cases and 1935 controls, individually matched by birth year, sex and area of residence. Using the geographical coordinates of the participants’ home residences, we built a proxy for exposure with four distances (250 m, 500 m, 750 m and 1 km) to urban parks (UPs) and urban wooded areas (UWAs). We employed logistic regression models to determinate the effect of them on childhood leukemia adjusting for environmental and socio-demographic covariates. Results we found a reduction in childhood leukemia incidence at a distance of 250 m from UPs (OR = 0.78; 95%CI = 0.62–0.98), as well as a reduction of the incidence in the Q3 and Q4 quintiles for exposure to UWAs, in the 250 m and 500 m buffers respectively (Q3 (250 m): OR = 0.69; 95%CI = 0.48–1.00; and, Q4 (500 m): OR = 0.69; 95%CI = 0.48–0.99). Conclusions Our results suggest a possible association between lower incidence of childhood leukemia and proximity to different forms of urban green space. This study is a first approach to the possible urban green space effects on childhood leukemia so is necessary to continue studying this spaces taking into account more individual data and other environmental risk factors.

AIM: Pediatric cancer has been associated with exposure to certain environmental carcinogens. The purpose of this work is to analyse the relationship between environmental pollution and pediatric cancer risk. METHOD: We analysed all incidences of pediatric cancer (

It is likely that pollution from chemical facilities will affect the health of any exposed population; however, the majority of scientific evidence available has focused on occupational exposure rather than environmental. Consequently, this study assessed whether there could have been an excess of cancerrelated mortality associated with environmental exposure to pollution from chemical installations e for populations residing in municipalities in the vicinity of chemical industries. To this end, we designed an ecological study which assessed municipal mortality due to 32 types of cancer in the period from 1999 to 2008. The exposure to pollution was estimated using distance from the facilities to the centroid of the municipality as a proxy for exposure. In order to assess any increased cancer mortality risk in municipalities potentially exposed to chemical facilities pollution (situated at a distance of 5 km from a chemical installation), we employed Bayesian Hierarchical Poisson Regression Models. This included two Bayesian inference methods: Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations (INLA) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC, for validation). The reference category consisted of municipalities beyond the 5 km limit. We found higher mortality risk (relative risk, RR; estimated by INLA, 95% credible interval, 95%CrI) for both sexes for colorectal (RR, 1.09; 95%CrI, 1.05e1.15), gallbladder (1.14; 1.03e1.27), and ovarian cancers (1.10; 1.02e1.20) associated with organic chemical installations. Notably, pleural cancer (2.27; 1.49e3.41) in both sexes was related to fertilizer facilities. Associations were found for women, specifically for ovarian (1.11; 1.01e1.22) and breast cancers (1.06; 1.00e1.13) in the proximity of explosives/pyrotechnics installations; increased breast cancer mortality risk (1.10; 1.03e1.18) was associated with proximity to inorganic chemical installations. The results suggest that environmental exposure to pollutants from some types of chemical facilities may be associated with increased mortality from several different types of cancer, The study was partially supported by research grants from the Spanish Health Research Fund, Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII), Spain (FIS CP11/00112, FIS PI14CIII/00065, FIS PI17CIII/00040) and by Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), Spain (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) e EVP-1178/14)

The 5-year overall survival (OS) in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has reached 90% in high-income countries, levels that can no be longer overcome with strategies based on intensification of treatment. Other approaches in the search for new and modifiable prognostic factors are necessary to continue to improve these rates. The importance of environmental factors in the etiopathogenesis of childhood ALL has been regaining interest but its role in the prognosis and survival of this disease is not well explored. We aim to investigate the association between secondhand smoke (SHS) and survival in children diagnosed with ALL.We analyzed survival rates in 146 patients under the age of 15 years diagnosed with ALL between January 1998 and May 2016 in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Evaluation of parental SHS and other known prognostic factors (sex, age, white blood cell count at diagnosis, cytogenetics, NCI/Rome Criteria, early response to therapy, and relapse) were assessed for impact on OS, event-free survival (EFS), cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), and treatment-related mortality (CITRM) using Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression, and Fine-Gray model.The mean follow-up time was 105.3 months (±66.5). Prenatal exposure to SHS due to parental smoking was highly prevalent. Of the mothers, 44.4% and 55.5% of the fathers smoked at some point during pregnancy. After the child's diagnosis of ALL 39.7% of mothers and 45.9% of fathers reported smoking. The Cox proportional hazards model showed that maternal smoking during pregnancy and after diagnosis (HR = 4.396, 95% CI: 1.173-16.474, p = 0.028); and relapse (HR = 7.919; 95% CI: 2.683-21.868; p 0.001) are independent prognostic factors in determining survival. The Fine-Gray model showed that maternal smoking during pregnancy and after diagnosis (HR = 14.525, 95% CI: 4.228-49.90, p 0.001) is an independent prognostic factor in CITRM.Persistent SHS worsens OS and TRM in children with ALL. This negative impact contributes to a different prognosis and may possibly provide an exceptional insight into new therapeutic approaches, including environmental aspects such as prevention and smoking cessation to improve survival outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Environmental exposures are related to the risk of some types of cancer, and children are the most vulnerable group of people. This study seeks to present the methodological approaches used in the papers of our group about risk of childhood cancers in the vicinity of pollution sources (industrial and urban sites). A population-based case-control study of incident childhood cancers in Spain and their relationship with residential proximity to industrial and urban areas was designed. Two methodological approaches using mixed multiple unconditional logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were developed: (a) "near vs. far" analysis, where possible excess risks of cancers in children living near ("near") versus those living far ("far") from industrial and urban areas were assessed; and (b) "risk gradient" analysis, where the risk gradient in the vicinity of industries was assessed. For each one of the two approaches, three strategies of analysis were implemented: "joint", "stratified", and "individualized" analysis. Incident cases were obtained from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Cancer (between 1996 and 2011). RESULTS: Applying this methodology, associations between proximity (≤ 2 km) to specific industrial and urban zones and risk (OR; 95% CI) of leukemias (1.31; 1.04-1.65 for industrial areas, and 1.28; 1.00-1.53 for urban areas), neuroblastoma (2.12; 1.18-3.83 for both industrial and urban areas), and renal (2.02; 1.16-3.52 for industrial areas) and bone (4.02; 1.73-9.34 for urban areas) tumors have been suggested. CONCLUSIONS: The two methodological approaches were used as a very useful and flexible tool to analyze the excess risk of childhood cancers in the vicinity of industrial and urban areas, which can be extrapolated and generalized to other cancers and chronic diseases, and adapted to other types of pollution sources. This study was funded by Carlos III Institute of Health, Spain Grand EPY1344/16, Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria—FIS 12/01416), and Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer, Spain (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC)—EVP-1178/14). This article presents independent research. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Carlos III Institute of Health. Sí

In a world that is increasingly technological and interconnected, but also more violent, overexploited and polluted, Paediatric Environmental Health (PEH) is one of the best contributions to improve global health. Few areas of the planet have a high affinity with common values and interests, such as the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The investments and actions of the PEH in pre- and postnatal periods during the first two decades of life will generate countless benefits in the health and well-being during the human life span. Detecting, reducing, or eliminating physical, chemical, biological and social pollutants is one of the main missions and actions of the PEH. In this special article, an update review is presented on the threats, challenges and cooperation opportunities in PEH among bio-health professionals and other social sectors involved, from the EU and LAC. New professional profiles, knowledge structures and architectures for engagement emerge. Courageous leaderships, new substantial resources, broad social changes, and the necessary collaboration between the two regions will be required to improve the health of present and future generations. Resumen: En un mundo cada vez más tecnológico e interconectado, pero también más violento, esquilmado y contaminado, la salud medioambiental pediátrica (SMAP) constituye una de las mejores contribuciones para mejorar la salud global. Pocas zonas del planeta tienen una afinidad tan alta en valores e intereses como la Unión Europea (UE), América Latina y el Caribe (ALC). Las inversiones y actuaciones de la SMAP en periodos pre y posnatales durante las dos primeras décadas de vida generarán incontables beneficios en la salud y en el bienestar general en todas las épocas posteriores de la vida. Detectar, disminuir o eliminar los contaminantes físicos, químicos, biológicos y sociales es una de las principales misiones y acciones de la SMAP. En este artículo especial describimos, actualizamos y divulgamos las amenazas, los desafíos y las oportunidades de cooperación en la SMAP entre los profesionales biosanitarios y restantes sectores sociales implicados de la UE y de ALC. Surgen nuevos perfiles profesionales, estructuras de conocimiento y arquitecturas para el compromiso. Se requerirán liderazgos valientes, nuevos recursos sustanciales, amplios cambios sociales y la necesaria colaboración entre ambas regiones para mejorar la salud de las generaciones presentes y futuras.

FI=3.835 (año 2016), Q1 Background: Few risk factors for childhood renal tumors are well established. While a small fraction of cases might be attributable to susceptibility genes and congenital anomalies, the role of environmental factors needs to be assessed. Objectives: To explore the possible association between residential proximity to environmental pollution sources (industrial and urban areas, and agricultural crops) and childhood renal cancer, taking into account industrial groups and toxic substances released. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of childhood renal cancer in Spain, including 213 incident cases gathered from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (period 1996-2011), and 1278 controls individually matched by year of birth, sex, and region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective subject's residences to the 1271 industries, the 30 urban areas with ≥75,000 inhabitants, and the agricultural crops located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables and socioeconomic confounders. Results: Excess risk (OR; 95%CI) of childhood renal tumors was observed for children living near (≤2.5km) industrial installations as a whole (1.97; 1.13-3.42) - particularly glass and mineral fibers (2.69; 1.19-6.08), galvanization (2.66; 1.14-6.22), hazardous waste (2.59; 1.25-5.37), ceramic (2.35; 1.06-5.21), surface treatment of metals (2.25; 1.24-4.08), organic chemical industry (2.22; 1.15-4.26), food and beverage sector (2.19; 1.18-4.07), urban and waste-water treatment plants (2.14; 1.07-4.30), and production and processing of metals (1.98; 1.03-3.82) -, and in the proximity of agricultural crops (3.16; 1.54-8.89 for children with percentage of crop surface ≥24.35% in a 1-km buffer around their residences). Conclusions: Our study provides some epidemiological evidence that living near certain industrial areas and agricultural crops may be a risk factor for childhood renal cancer. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 12/01416 and FIS CP11/00112). No

Background Childhood cancer is a chronic disease with high survival rates. Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) can still face health effects later in their lives. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the factors that modify it allow CCS and their families to improve care in the long-term follow-up. This study aims to: (1) examine the differences in HRQoL between CCS of extracranial malignancies and a comparison group, and (2) explore the clinical, environmental and lifestyles factors implicated in the HRQoL of CCS. Methods In this cross-sectional study with a case vs. non-case comparison, the HRQoL of 117 CCS between 8 and 18 years old was compared with healthy non-cases paired by sex and age. The Pediatric Environmental History (PEHis) was applied to obtain information on sociodemographic, clinical, environmental and lifestyle factors. The PedsQL™ Generic Core Scales questionnaire was used to evaluate HRQoL. Results In the multivariate analysis among the CCS, the following variables were significantly associated with HRQoL: Poor outdoor air quality (Total, Psychosocial, Emotional, Social and School domains); household income (Total, Psychosocial and School domains); and the presence of late effects (Total, Physical, Psychosocial, and Social domains); regular contact with nature (Physical domain); and the daily hours of screen-time (Emotional domain). CCS present HRQoL results superior to the non-cases group in the physical domain (86.10 vs. 80.34; p=0.001), finding no differences in the other domains evaluated. Conclusions An environmental and community health approach, such as PEHis, in CCS long-term programs promoting the creation of healthier environments and lifestyles contributes to improving their HRQoL and secondarily other chronic diseases.

BACKGROUND: Current evidence suggests that childhood leukaemia can be associated with residential traffic exposure; nevertheless, more results are needed to support this conclusion. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the possible effects of residential proximity to road traffic on childhood leukaemia, taking into account traffic density, road proximity and the type of leukaemia (acute lymphoid leukaemia or acute myeloid leukaemia). METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study of childhood leukaemia in Spain, covering the period 1990-2011. It included 1061 incidence cases gathered from the Spanish National Childhood Cancer Registry and those Autonomous Regions with 100% coverage, and 6447 controls, individually matched by year of birth, sex and autonomous region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective participant's residential locations to the different types of roads and four different buffers. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs), were calculated for four different categories of distance to roads. RESULTS: Cases of childhood leukaemia had more than three-fold increased odds of living at

Resumen: En un mundo cada vez más tecnológico e interconectado, pero también más violento, esquilmado y contaminado, la salud medioambiental pediátrica (SMAP) constituye una de las mejores contribuciones para mejorar la salud global. Pocas zonas del planeta tienen una afinidad tan alta en valores e intereses como la Unión Europea (UE), América Latina y el Caribe (ALC). Las inversiones y actuaciones de la SMAP en periodos pre y posnatales durante las dos primeras décadas de vida generarán incontables beneficios en la salud y en el bienestar general en todas las épocas posteriores de la vida. Detectar, disminuir o eliminar los contaminantes físicos, químicos, biológicos y sociales es una de las principales misiones y acciones de la SMAP. En este artículo especial describimos, actualizamos y divulgamos las amenazas, los desafíos y las oportunidades de cooperación en la SMAP entre los profesionales biosanitarios y restantes sectores sociales implicados de la UE y de ALC. Surgen nuevos perfiles profesionales, estructuras de conocimiento y arquitecturas para el compromiso. Se requerirán liderazgos valientes, nuevos recursos sustanciales, amplios cambios sociales y la necesaria colaboración entre ambas regiones para mejorar la salud de las generaciones presentes y futuras. Abstract: In a world that is increasingly technological and interconnected, but also more violent, overexploited and polluted, Paediatric Environmental Health (PEH) is one of the best contributions to improve global health. Few areas of the planet have a high affinity with common values and interests, such as the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The investments and actions of the PEH in pre- and postnatal periods during the first two decades of life will generate countless benefits in the health and well-being during the human life span. Detecting, reducing, or eliminating physical, chemical, biological and social pollutants is one of the main missions and actions of the PEH. In this special article, an update review is presented on the threats, challenges and cooperation opportunities in PEH among bio-health professionals and other social sectors involved, from the EU and LAC. New professional profiles, knowledge structures and architectures for engagement emerge. Courageous leaderships, new substantial resources, broad social changes, and the necessary collaboration between the two regions will be required to improve the health of present and future generations.

Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for bone tumors in children, and the role of environmental factors needs to be analyzed. Our objective was to ascertain the association between residential proximity to industrial plants and urban areas and risk of bone tumors in children, taking into account industrial groups and toxic pollutants released. A population-based case-control study of childhood bone cancer in Spain was carried out, covering 114 incident cases obtained from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (between 1996 and 2011), and 684 controls individually matched by sex, year of birth, and autonomous region of residence. Distances from the subject's residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas (towns) with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area were computed. Unconditional logistic regression models were fitted to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (from 1km to 3km) to industrial and urban areas, with adjustment for matching variables and sociodemographic indicators. Excess risk (OR; 95%CI) of bone tumors in children was detected for children close to industrial facilities as a whole (2.33; 1.17-4.63 at 3km) - particularly surface treatment of metals (OR=2.50; 95%CI=1.13-5.56 at 2km), production and processing of metals (OR=3.30; 95%CI=1.41-7.77 at 2.5km), urban waste-water treatment plants (OR=4.41; 95%CI=1.62-11.98 at 2km), hazardous waste (OR=4.63; 95%CI=1.37-15.61 at 2km), disposal or recycling of animal waste (OR=4.73; 95%CI=1.40-15.97 at 2km), cement and lime (OR=3.89; 95%CI=1.19-12.77 at 2.5km), and combustion installations (OR=3.85; 95%CI=1.39-10.66 at 3km)-, and urban areas (4.43; 1.80-10.92). These findings support the need for more detailed exposure assessment of certain toxics released by these facilities. Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria y Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) Sí

Cancer can be caused by exposure to air pollution released by industrial facilities. The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) has made it possible to study exposure to industrial pollution. This study seeks to describe the industrial emissions in the vicinity of Spanish towns and their temporal changes, and review our experience studying industrial pollution and cancer. Data on industrial pollutant sources (2007-2010) were obtained from the E-PRTR registries. Population exposure was estimated by the distance from towns to industrial facilities. We calculated the amount of carcinogens emitted into the air in the proximity (

BACKGROUND: Waste treatment plants release toxic emissions into the environment which affect neighboring towns. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether there might be excess cancer mortality in towns situated in the vicinity of Spanish-based incinerators and installations for the recovery or disposal of hazardous waste, according to the different categories of industrial activity. METHODS: An ecologic study was designed to examine municipal mortality due to 33 types of cancer, across the period 1997-2006. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Using Besag-York-Mollié (BYM) regression models with Integrated Nested Laplace approximations for Bayesian inference, and Mixed Poisson regression models, we assessed the risk of dying from cancer in a 5-kilometer zone around installations, analyzed the effect of category of industrial activity, and conducted individual analyses within a 50-kilometer radius of each installation. RESULTS: Excess cancer mortality (BYM model: relative risk, 95% credible interval) was detected in the total population residing in the vicinity of these installations as a whole (1.06, 1.04-1.09), and, principally, in the vicinity of incinerators (1.09, 1.01-1.18) and scrap metal/end-of-life vehicle handling facilities, in particular (1.04, 1.00-1.09). Special mention should be made of the results for tumors of the pleura (1.71, 1.34-2.14), stomach (1.18, 1.10-1.27), liver (1.18, 1.06-1.30), kidney (1.14, 1.04-1.23), ovary (1.14, 1.05-1.23), lung (1.10, 1.05-1.15), leukemia (1.10, 1.03-1.17), colon-rectum (1.08, 1.03-1.13) and bladder (1.08, 1.01-1.16) in the vicinity of all such installations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis of a statistically significant increase in the risk of dying from cancer in towns near incinerators and installations for the recovery or disposal of hazardous waste. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria — FIS 080662 and FIS CP11/0012) and ISCIII EPY 1398/09, and formed as part of the MEDEA project (Mortalidad en áreas pequeñas Españolas y Desigualdades socio-Económicas y Ambientales — Mortality in small Spanish areas and socio-economic and environmental inequalities). Sí

Objetive: Radon is a human lung carcinogen but it might be linked with other respiratory diseases. We aimed to assess the relationship between residential radon exposure and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) prevalence and hospital admissions at a municipal level. Methods: We designed an ecological study where we included those municipalities with at least 3 radon measurements. Using mixed Poisson regression models we calculated the relative risk (RR) for COPD for each 100 Bq/m 3 of increase in radon concentration and the relative risk for COPD using a cutpoint of 50 Bq/m 3 . We performed separate analyses for sex and municipalities with > 5 radon measurements. Results: 3,040 radon measurements in 237 municipalities (75.2% of total) and 49,393 COPD cases (67.6% males) were included. Median residential radon concentration was 107 Bq/m 3 (range:13-569 Bq/m 3 ). 30.8% of municipalities had radon levels above 148 Bq/m 3 and 13.9% above 200 Bq/m 3 . Relative risk for COPD prevalence was 0.95 (95%CI 0.92-0.97) for each 100 Bq/m 3 . For hospital admissions, RR was 1.04 (95%CI 1.00-1.10). Relative risks were higher for women compared to men. Relative risk for hospital admissions was 1.17 (95%CI 0.99-1.40) for women living in municipalities with > 50 Bq/m3 compared with those with lower concentrations. Conclusions: Residential radon exposure may increase the risk of COPD and hospital admissions for this disease. Women have a higher risk than men. These results highlight the importance of residential radon as a public health concern, since it suggests that it might affect respiratory diseases other than lung cancer. It is necessary to implement preventive measures to protect population from this indoor carcinogen.

Background: Few epidemiologic studies have explored risk factors for rare tumors in children, and the role of environmental factors needs to be assessed. Objectives: To ascertain the effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood cancer risk, taking industrial groups into account. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of five childhood cancers in Spain (retinoblastoma, hepatic tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, germ cell tumors, and other epithelial neoplasms/melanomas), including 557 incident cases from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (period 1996-2011), and 3342 controls individually matched by year of birth, sex, and region of residence. Distances were computed from the residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables and socioeconomic confounders. Results: Children living near industrial and urban areas as a whole showed no excess risk for any of the tumors analyzed. However, isolated statistical associations (OR; 95%CI) were found between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers (2.49; 1.01-6.12 at 3km) and organic chemical industries (2.54; 1.10-5.90 at 2km). Moreover, soft tissue sarcomas registered the lower risks in the environs of industries as a whole (0.59; 0.38-0.93 at 4km). Conclusions: We have found isolated statistical associations between retinoblastoma and proximity to industries involved in glass and mineral fibers and organic chemical industries. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 12/01416) and Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) – EVP-1178/14). No

Background: Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children but its etiology is not clearly understood. While a small fraction of cases might be attributable to genetic factors, the role of environmental pollution factors needs to be assessed. Objectives: To ascertain the effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on neuroblastoma risk, taking into account industrial groups and toxic substances released. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of neuroblastoma in Spain, including 398 incident cases gathered from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors (period 1996–2011), and 2388 controls individually matched by year of birth, sex, and region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective subject's residences to the 1271 industries and the 30 urban areas with ≥75,000 inhabitants located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (from 1 km to 5 km) to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables and socioeconomic confounders. Results: Excess risk (OR; 95%CI) of neuroblastoma was detected for the intersection between industrial and urban areas: (2.52; 1.20–5.30) for industrial distance of 1 km, and (1.99; 1.17–3.37) for industrial distance of 2 km. By industrial groups, excess risks were observed near ‘Production of metals’ (OR = 2.05; 95%CI = 1.16–3.64 at 1.5 km), ‘Surface treatment of metals’ (OR = 1.89; 95%CI = 1.10–3.28 at 1 km), ‘Mines’ (OR = 5.82; 95%CI = 1.04–32.43 at 1.5 km), ‘Explosives/pyrotechnics’ (OR = 4.04; 95%CI = 1.31–12.42 at 4 km), and ‘Urban waste-water treatment plants’ (OR = 2.14; 95%CI = 1.08–4.27 at 1.5 km). Conclusions: These findings support the need for more detailed exposure assessment of certain substances released by these industries. Keywords: Neuroblastoma, Industrial pollution, Urban pollution, Case-control study, Residential proximity, Pollutant release and transfer register

Mining installations are releasing toxic substances into the environment which could pose a health problem to populations in their vicinity. We sought to investigate whether there might be excess cancer-related mortality in populations residing in towns lying in the vicinity of Spanish mining industries governed by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, and the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Regulation, according to the type of extraction method used. An ecologic study was designed to examine municipal mortality due to 32 types of cancer, across the period 1997 through 2006. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Poisson regression models, using the Bayesian conditional autoregressive model proposed by Besag, York and Molliè and Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations for Bayesian inference, were used: to analyze risk of dying from cancer in a 5-kilometer zone around mining installations; effect of type of industrial activity; and to conduct individual analyses within a 50-kilometer radius of each installation. Excess mortality (relative risk, 95% credible interval) of colorectal cancer (1.097, 1.041-1.157), lung cancer (1.066, 1.009-1.126) specifically related with proximity to opencast coal mining, bladder cancer (1.106, 1.016-1.203) and leukemia (1.093, 1.003-1.191) related with other opencast mining installations, was detected among the overall population in the vicinity of mining installations. Other tumors also associated in the stratified analysis by type of mine, were: thyroid, gallbladder and liver cancers (underground coal installations); brain cancer (opencast coal mining); stomach cancer (coal and other opencast mining installations); and myeloma (underground mining installations). The results suggested an association between risk of dying due to digestive, respiratory, hematologic and thyroid cancers and proximity to Spanish mining industries. These associations were dependent on the type of mine. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria — FIS 080662 and FIS CP11/0012) and formed as part of the MEDEA project (Mortalidad en áreas pequeñas Españolas y Desigualdades socio-Económicas y Ambientales — Mortality in small Spanish areas and socioeconomic and environmental inequalities). Sí

FI=6.248 (año 2012), D1 Background: Population exposure to emissions from multiple industrial sources, though little studied, is an aspect of great interest from an epidemiologic standpoint. Objectives: To investigate whether risk of dying due to tumors of the digestive system in populations residing in the vicinity of Spanish metal production and processing installations increases with proximity to a greater number of industrial facilities. Methods: An ecologic study was designed to ascertain municipal mortality due to malignant tumors of the digestive system (oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder and colon-rectum) during the period 1994-2003, in Spanish regions with the presence of multiple industrial sources in the metal sector. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Using Poisson regression models, we analyzed: the increased risk of dying of cancer with proximity to a given number of sources; and excess mortality in the vicinity of specific industrial clusters. Results: The tumor responsible for the greatest number of regions with increased risk in both sexes was liver cancer (78% of the regions, being statistically significant in Valencia (p-value for trend (p trend)=0.001 in both sexes), Madrid (p trend=0.011 in women) and the Basque Country (p trend=0.002 in men)), followed by colorectal and pancreatic cancers (56% of the regions, being statistically significant in both sexes in Valencia (p trend=0.001) and Zaragoza (p trend=0.018) for colorectal cancer; and Valladolid (p trend=0.019 in men) and Barcelona (p trend=0.049 in women) for pancreatic cancer). Valencia was the province that displayed increased risk with the proximity to metal industries for all tumors studied, while the Basque Country was the Autonomous Region that registered a rising risk trend for liver, stomach and colorectal tumors with proximity (≤5 km) to a greater number of sources. Conclusions: The results could support the hypothesis that mortality due to certain tumors of the digestive system increases with proximity (≤5 km) to a greater number of metal industry sources. Nevertheless, in this type of ecologic study, conclusions cannot be obtained in terms of cause and effect, nor can individual inferences be made from grouped data. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 040041) and formed part of the MEDEA project (Mortalidad en áreas pequeñas Españolas y Desigualdades socio-Económicas y Ambientales - Mortality in small Spanish areas and socio-economic and environmental inequalities). No

SUMMARYIn Spain hepatitis A is a compulsory notifiable disease and individual cases are reported to the national epidemiological surveillance network. Incidence rates show variations in different regions. The aim of this study was to analyse the space–time pattern of hepatitis A risk at municipal level in Spain and at global and local levels during the period 1997–2007. At global level we used two estimates of risk: the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and the posterior probability that the smoothed relative risk is >1 (PP). At local level we used the scan statistic method to analyse the space–time clusters. The SIR and significant PP (>0·8) showed the highest risk concentrated in areas of the Mediterranean coast. The most likely cluster gave a relative risk of 53·530. These spatial statistics methodologies can be complementary tools in the epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases.

Background: Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men but its aetiology is still largely unknown. Different studies have proposed several risk factors such as ethnic origin, age, genetic factors, hormonal factors, diet and insulin-like growth factor, but the spatial distribution of the disease suggests that other environmental factors are involved. This paper studies the spatial distribution of prostate cancer mortality in an industrialized area using distances from each of a number of industrial facilities as indirect measures of exposure to industrial pollution. Materials and methods: We studied the Gran Bilbao area (Spain) with a population of 791,519 inhabitants distributed in 657 census tracts. There were 20 industrial facilities within the area, 8 of them in the central axis of the region. We analysed prostate cancer mortality during the period 1996–2003. There were 883 deaths giving a crude rate of 14 per 100,000 inhabitants.We extended the standard Poisson regression model by the inclusion of a multiplicative non-linear function to model the effect of distance from an industrial facility. The function's shape combined an elevated risk close to the source with a neutral effect at large distance. We also included socio-demographic covariates in the model to control potential confounding. Results: We aggregated the industrial facilities by sector: metal, mineral, chemical and other activities. Results relating to metal industries showed a significantly elevated risk by a factor of approximately 1.4 in the immediate vicinity, decaying with distance to a value of 1.08 at 12 km. The remaining sectors did not show a statistically significant excess of risk at the source. Discussion: Notwithstanding the limitations of this kind of study, we found evidence of association between the spatial distribution of prostate cancer mortality aggregated by census tracts and proximity to metal industrial facilities located within the area, after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics at municipality level. Keywords: Prostate cancer, Environmental exposure, Industrial pollution, Metal industry, Non-linear model

High-chronic arsenic exposure in drinking water is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. At low-chronic levels, as those present in Spain, evidence is scarce. In this ecological study, we evaluated the association of municipal drinking water arsenic concentrations during the period 1998-2002 with cardiovascular mortality in the population of Spain.Arsenic concentrations in drinking water were available for 1721 municipalities, covering 24.8 million people. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cardiovascular (361,750 deaths), coronary (113,000 deaths), and cerebrovascular (103,590 deaths) disease were analyzed for the period 1999-2003. Two-level hierarchical Poisson models were used to evaluate the association of municipal drinking water arsenic concentrations with mortality adjusting for social determinants, cardiovascular risk factors, diet, and water characteristics at municipal or provincial level in 651 municipalities (200,376 cardiovascular deaths) with complete covariate information.Mean municipal drinking water arsenic concentrations ranged from1 to 118 microg/L. Compared to the overall Spanish population, sex- and age-adjusted mortality rates for cardiovascular (SMR 1.10), coronary (SMR 1.18), and cerebrovascular (SMR 1.04) disease were increased in municipalities with arsenic concentrations in drinking water10 microg/L. Compared to municipalities with arsenic concentrations1 microg/L, fully adjusted cardiovascular mortality rates were increased by 2.2% (-0.9% to 5.5%) and 2.6% (-2.0% to 7.5%) in municipalities with arsenic concentrations between 1-10 and10 microg/L, respectively (P-value for trend 0.032). The corresponding figures were 5.2% (0.8% to 9.8%) and 1.5% (-4.5% to 7.9%) for coronary heart disease mortality, and 0.3% (-4.1% to 4.9%) and 1.7% (-4.9% to 8.8%) for cerebrovascular disease mortality.In this ecological study, elevated low-to-moderate arsenic concentrations in drinking water were associated with increased cardiovascular mortality at the municipal level. Prospective cohort studies with individual measures of arsenic exposure, standardized cardiovascular outcomes, and adequate adjustment for confounders are needed to confirm these ecological findings. Our study, however, reinforces the need to implement arsenic remediation treatments in water supply systems above the World Health Organization safety standard of 10 microg/L.

The objectives of this study are to identify inequalities in mortality among census tracts of 11 Spanish cities in the period 1996-2003 and to analyse the relationship between these geographical inequalities and socioeconomic deprivation. It is a cross-sectional ecological study where the units of analysis are census tracts. We obtained an index of socioeconomic deprivation and estimated SMR by each census tract using hierarchical Bayesian models which take into account the spatial structure. In the majority of the cities geographical patterns in total mortality were found in both sexes, which were similar to those for the index of socioeconomic deprivation. Among men, four specific causes of death (lung cancer, ischemic heart diseases, respiratory diseases and cirrhosis) were positively associated with deprivation in the majority of cities. Among women the specific causes diabetes and cirrhosis were positively associated, while lung cancer was negatively associated with deprivation. The excess of mortality related with deprivation was 59,445 deaths among men and 23,292 among women. These results highlight the importance of intra-urban inequalities in health.

Fundamentos: La incidencia de tuberculosis (TB) se ha asociado a factores, epidemiológicos y sociales. En España, la TB es una enfermedad de declaración obligatoria e individualizada. Las tasas de TB respiratoria experimentan un descenso constante en los últimos años. El objetivo es valorar la asociación entre la morbilidad por TB respiratoria y variables socioeconómicas y epidemiológicas así como su distribución espacial mediante métodos geoestadísticos. Método: Las tasas de incidencia se estandarizaron por edad y sexo con datos de la Red Nacional de Vigilancia (2006). Las variables socioeconómicas incluidas son: condición socioeconómica, nivel de estudios, tasa de hacinamiento, densidad de población, tasa de inmigración estandarizada por sexo, tasa de analfabetismo, tasa de paro, gasto medio en euros por persona. Las variables epidemiológicas incluidas han sido la tasa de SIDA y la tasa de incidencia de gripe. Se realizó un análisis multivariable mediante un Modelo Lineal Generalizado poisson. Se aplicó la técnica geoestadística Cokringing ajustada por las variables estadísticamente significativas para ver la distribución espacial de riesgo. Resultados: Las variables estadísticamente significativas son la tasa de hacinamiento, tasa de inmigración, tasa de analfabetismo, tasa de paro, gasto medio euros por persona, tasa de gripe y tasa de sida. La técnica geoestadística muestra una variabilidad espacial del riesgo y una concentración del riesgo en el noroeste y sureste de la península. Conclusiones: Los resultados permiten afirmar que el método Cokriging es una herramienta útil para representar la distribución espacial del riesgo. Existe asociación entre variables socioeconómicas, epidemiológicas y TB en España.

ResumenObjetivosa) Describir la metodología seguida en la construcción de un índice de privación por sección censal en ciudades, que permite identificar las secciones con situaciones socioeconómicas más desfavorables, y b) analizar la relación de este índice con la mortalidad general.MétodosSe elaboraron diversos indicadores socioeconómicos (Censo 2001) correspondientes a las secciones censales de las ciudades de Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Sevilla y Valencia. Se estudiaron sus correlaciones con la razón estandarizada de mortalidad (1996-2003), así como sus dimensiones conceptuales. Finalmente, mediante el análisis de componentes principales, se agregaron en un índice los indicadores seleccionados, usando como valores de peso las saturaciones correspondientes al primer eje.ResultadosLos indicadores que presentaron mayores correlaciones con la mortalidad general fueron los referidos a trabajo, educación, vivienda-entorno y hogares monoparentales. En el análisis dimensional de los indicadores aparece una primera dimensión que contiene los indicadores relativos a trabajo (desempleo, trabajadores manuales y eventuales) y educación (instrucción insuficiente total y en jóvenes). El índice elaborado con estos 5 indicadores recoge, en todas las ciudades estudiadas, más del 75% de la variabilidad de los indicadores que lo componen. Las correlaciones de este índice con la mortalidad muestran, en general, mayores valores que las obtenidas individualmente con cada indicador.ConclusionesEl índice de privación que se propone puede ser un instrumento útil para la planificación sanitaria al detectar áreas pequeñas de grandes ciudades con una situación socioeconómica desfavorable, que se relaciona con la mortalidad, y puede contribuir al estudio de las desigualdades sociales en salud en España.AbstractObjectivesa) To describe the methodology used to construct a deprivation index by census tract in cities, to identify the tracts with the least favorable socioeconomic conditions, and b) to analyze the association between this index and overall mortality.MethodsSeveral socioeconomic indicators (Census 2001) were defined by the census tracts of the following cities: Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Seville and Valencia. The correlations with the standardized mortality ratio (1996-2003), and the dimensionality of the socioeconomic indicators were studied. Finally, the selected indicators were aggregated in an index, in which the results of the factor loadings from extraction of a factor by principal components were used as weighting values.ResultsThe indicators with the strongest correlations with overall mortality were those related to work, education, housing conditions and single parent homes. In the analysis of dimensionality, a first dimension appeared that contained indicators related to work (unemployment, manual and eventual workers) and education (insufficient education overall and in young people). In all the cities studied, the index created with these 5 indicators explained more than 75% of their variability. The correlations between this index and mortality generally showed higher values than those obtained with each indicator separately.ConclusionsThe deprivation index proposed could be a useful instrument for health planning as it detects small areas of large cities with unfavorable socioeconomic characteristics and is associated with mortality. This index could contribute to the study of social inequalities in health in Spain.

Objectives: To study the geographical pattern of mortality caused by haematological tumours in Spain at the municipal level using three Bayesian models and to compare their goodness of fit. Methods: The fitted Bayesian hierarchical models were: (1) the Besag York and Mollie (BYM) model; (2) a model based on zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) distribution, which allowed a large number of event-free areas; and (3) a mixture of distributions that enabled discontinuities (jumps in the pattern) to be modelled. The three models allow smoothed relative risk maps to be obtained for the all countries. The goodness of fit was evaluated using the deviance information criteria. Results: The three models yielded similar results. The ZIP model plotted a pattern almost identical with the BYM model. The goodness-of-fit criteria indicate that the mixture model is the one that best fits our data. Haematological tumours display a geographical pattern that could be partly explained by environmental determinants, as many of the highest-risk towns are located in heavily industrialised areas. Conclusions: The choice of one or another model has scant practical consequences. The pattern of distribution supports the hypothesis that differences in lifestyles, air/industrial pollution and migratory phenomena may determine the pattern of urban mortality due to these tumours.

The study was partially funded by the “Accion Transversal del Cancer”, approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on the 11th October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PS09/00773, PS09/01286,PS09/01903, PS09/02078, PS09/01662, PI11/01403, PI11/01889,PI11/00226, PI11/01810, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265,PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI12/00150), Castaño-Vinyals, G., Aragonés, N., Pérez-Gómez, B., Martín, V., Llorca, J., Moreno, V., Altzibar, J.M., Ardanaz, E., de Sanjosé, S., Jiménez-Moleón, J.J., Tardón, A., Alguacil, J., Peiró, R., Marcos-Gragera, R., Navarro, C., Pollán, M., Kogevinas, M., Alonso, M.T., Amiano, P., Arias, C., Azpiri, M., Benavente, Y., Boldo, E., Bueno, A., Bustamante, M., Caballero, F.J., Campo, E., Cantón, R., Capelo, R., Carmona, C., Casabonne, D., Chirlaque, M.D., Cirac, J., Clofent, J., Colado, E., Costas, L., Crous, M., Del Campo, R., Santos, M.D., Dierssen-Sotos, T., Ederra, M., Espinosa, A., Cabrera, M.F., Somoano, A.F., Villa, T.F., García-Esquinas, E.G., Martín, P.G., Gómez-Acebo, I., Puga, C.G., Gràcia, E., Eslava, M.G., Guinó, E., Huerta, J.M., Lope, V., López-Abente, G., Lopez-Otín, C., Argüelles, B.M., Salas, S.M., Pozo, B.M., de la Torre, A.J., Moreno, E., Iribas, C.M., Olea, N., Gelis, G.O., Paré, L., Porta, M., Puig, M., Del Fresno, M.R., Robles, C., Suarez, M.M., Romero, B., Castillo, A.I., Serra, M.S., Trejo, D.S., Santaballa, A., Santibáñez, M., Sierra, Á., Souto, A., Villanueva, C.M., Carrasco, E., Sabaté, Y., Persavento, C., García, M., Carrasco, G., Expósito, A., Andreu, M., Bessa, X., Piracés, M., Lorente, J.A., Tusquets, I., Collet, I., Bory, F., Pera, M., Abella, E., Garcia, F., Salar, A., Piñol, M., Fernandez-Llamazares, J., Martín, M.V., Garsot, E., Servio, L.I., Arzoz-Fabregas, M., Suarez, L., Ruiz, J.M., Castells, A., Serradesanferm, A., Bosch, A., Muñoz, M., Fontanillas, M., Alcaraz, A., Mengual, L., Duran, E., Izard, C., López, C., Benítez, J.M., Massanes, A.B., Ferrer, O.G., Almeda, J., Sarret, S., Rodriguez, M.A., Valmaseda, A.B., Liceran, M., Petitbó, D., Nolla, J.I., Pérez, S., Martínez, S., Vilaseca, J.M., Sebastián, L., Quesada, P., Sequera, G., Barca, E.G., Domingo-Domenech, E., Oliveira, A., Alonso, E., de la Banda, E., Sabater, Y., Vergara, M., Exposito, A., Alonso, T., Padrol, I., Klaustermeier, J., Florencia, Y., Camon, V., Esteban, A., Aymerich, M., Lopez-Otin, C., Muñoz, A., Torralba, Y., Dot, D., Mercadal, S., Sarra, J., Medina, P., Atienza, C., Biondo, S., de Oca, J., Ferran, L., Rodriguez-Moranta, F., Soriano, A., Guardiola, J., Urruticoechea, A., Galan, M., Banda, J.M., Zumel, Á., Saez, A., Garrido, J.A., Lacasaña, M., Ariza, J.L., García, T., García, M.Á., Hidalgo, M.Á., Asuero, M., Bayo, J., Vázquez, V.C., Franco, F., Gurucelain, J.L., Frías, M.J., Van de Haar, R., Viñas, J., Jiménez, H., Aguayo, M., Pereira, A., Gutiérrez, S.P., Rada, R., Candón, J., Domínguez, J., Ramos, M., Pedraza, G., Braulio, J., Salas, J., Labrero, D., Muñoz, D., Barrero, F., Delgado, S., Galisteo, L., Camacho, A., Elena, H., Caballero, J., Muñoz, M.J., Arredondo, F., Linares, R., Tejada, A., Tinto, H., Alés, J.D., Coronado, M.V., Bernal, M.L., Ortiz, J.L., Ocaña, M.N., Cavanillas, A.B., Miguel, Mejías, E.J., Abril, O.M., Requena, R.O., Morata, J.L., Echezarreta, E.G., López, L.M., Martínez, M.M., Sedano, P.P., de la Pedraja Pavón, A., López-Rojo, C., Mendiola, J., Pellicer, E., Caparrós, J.M., Oltra, E.G., Martínez, J.M., Molina, A., Villanueva, V., Miranda, M.J., Abril, C., Martinez, J., Salas, D., Ruiz, J.L., Ponce, M., Noos, P., Cervera, J., Del Val, A., Segura, A., Jiménez, N., Bellmunt, E., Aznar, I., Ramos, D., Montón, T., Solera, M.C., Mora, E.M., Estañ, N., Camarasa, N., Solanas, J.V., Ripoll, J., Cantero, J., Díaz, C.A., García, A.S., Avellón, S.M., Neumann, M., González, M.J., Suárez, M.M., Fernández, G., Fresno, M.R., Gómez, A., Garín, U., de Gros, A., Tamayo, E., Rua, M., Lasarte, C.S., Jauregi, M., Recio, J., Fernández, M., Múgica, M., Ciria, J.P., Guimón, E., Adúriz, C., Lacasta, A., Francisco, J.S., Alvarez, I., Enriquez-Navascués, J.M., Ruiz, I., Michelena, M., Alberro, J.A., Almansa, A.M., Goñi, L.M., Elizagaray, M.I., Técnico, M.O., Pérez, R.B., De Miguel Medina, M.C., Repáraz Romero, M., de Azúa Ciria, A.Y., Díaz, M.M., Lizárraga, M.S., Jiménez, Y.L., López, C.E., Legaz, S.O., Lezaun, R.A., Hurtado, H.O., De Miguel Velasco, M., Rubio, P.A., Cunchillos, F.D., de Liaño Arguelles, Á.D., Peñuela, J.M., Dorronsoro, M.L., Celaya, F.B., García, D.R., de la Higuera Carnicer, B.G., Tricas, J.M., Rivera, E.M., García, F.V., Noain, J.J., Erdozain, E.A., Ulibarrena, C.I., Lopeandía, J.G., Caden, M.A., Moraza, F.A., Domench, J.J., Arteaga, A.A., Navarro, K.A., Del Burgo Tajadura, M.A., Irastorza, F.C., Urrisarri, M.J., Zubicoa, B.F., Lorente, P.G., Sevilla, P.H., Echamendi, M.L., Díaz, Á.M., Salaverri, J.M., Gorricho, F.J., Del Valle, M.P., de Prado Marcilla, J., Garcésducar, M., Herce, P.A., Barasoain, J.E., Campos, I.A., Vergara, E.A., Beraza, B.C., Blasco, L.F., Díaz, L.G., Larrañeta, J.G., Ruiz, N.G., García, J.G., Orduna, M.S., Larena, D.I., Fernández, M.P., de Ciriza Pejenaute, F.J., Escuin, R., Puertas, I.R., Samper, I.A., Sesma, M.E., López, M.J., Apestegui, C.Z., Linares, C., Cervantes, M., Ferreras, E., García-Pérez, J., Fernández-Navarro, P., Pastor, R., Ramis, R., González, Á., Ruiz, T., Muñoz, V., Delgado, R., Lanza, M., Marín, M., Posada, M., Cosmen, J., Villanueva, A., Castaño, A., Jiménez, J.A., Rin, A., Díaz, G., Herreros, M., Pedraza, V., López, P., de la Fuente, M., de Castro, M.F., Sobrino, J., Calvo, R., Carrascal, I., Bernal, R., Mateo, A., García-Olmo, D., Zarazaga, A., Gombau, M.Á., Díaz, J., Gómez, T., Sánchez, T., de la Quintana, P., Ordás, J., Cuevas, P., Sánchez-Pastor, M., de la Peña, J.J., Tabernero, Á., Cámara, N., Hardisson, D., Suárez, A., Burgos, E., Alves, J., Miguel, M., Feliú, J., Belda, C., Zamora, P., Sánchez, A., Hernández, A., Beato, T., Arroba, A., Ballesteros, A., Canora, S., García, C., Romero, M., José, T.S., Espinel, M., Mañas, A., Sánchez, M., Ramón, H., Morillo, J.L., Cuchí, M., García, M.J., Ramos, J.M., Rojo, R., Sanjuanbenito, A., Villanueva, A.G., Gras, M., Cabañas, J.L., Collado, V., Arano, I., Capela, I., Mojarrieta, C., Peñas, B., Rodríguez, M., Ramos, A., Sancho, S., Hervás, A., Moreno, P., Sánchez, C., DoloresRubio, Montoya, L., Sancho, P., Rodríguez, L., Durán, E., Morel, S., Burgos, J., García, R., Del Cañizo, C.G., Díaz, A., González, F., Cristóbal, E., Barahona, C., Vázquez, S., Esteban, V., Pedrera, M., Martínez, J., Carrato, A., Ponce, C.G., Santos-Olmo, A., Barrientos, R.R., López, G., Fernández, A., García, A.B., Noriega, A., Campo, M., Varona, E., López, F., Montero, M., Gómez, M.T., Bartibas, P., Sanz, R., Montes, T., Salinero, M.Á., Herrero, M., Igea, M., Calvo, C., Pérez-Pellón, C., Maestre, M., Agora, M.A., Martín, M.G., Velázquez, D., Fernández, B., Castro, M., Ayuso, E., Masa, R., Antelo, C., García, S., Herrero, S., Delgado, A., Vilardell, L., Puig-Vives, M., Osca-Gelis, G., Buxo, M., Izquierdo, A., Carmona-Garcia, M.C., Romanos, R.R., Galindo, C.T., Bargalló, P.M., Sanchez, E.R., Saez, M., Roncero, J.M., Gallardo, D., Coll, R., Blanco, I., Ruano, L.M., Castaño, E.A., Rusiñol, J.M., Perez, R.J., Pujol, I.M., Tuero, G.C., de Barrio Lera, J.P., Carral, J.M., Pérez, C.A., Puente, M.E., Balbuena, S.P., Presa, J.M., Ramírez, J.A., Martínez, A.Á., de Francisco, T.G., Elosua, T.G., Teso, E.P., Fueyo, J.F., Guadarrama, O.A., Turienzo Frade Mdel, A., De la Hoz Riesco, M., Fernández, J.J., Fernández, V.S., Fernández, R.C., Santamaría, M.V., Simón, J.A., Ganso, A.M., Pacho, A.V., Alegre, S.V., Plaza, F.J., Cuenllas, B.Á., Franco, E.H., Martín, M.H., Ariño, M.T., Tascón, C.D., Palomo, J.A., Castañón López Mdel, C., Lorenzo, M.P., González, I.A., Rivero, F.G., Román, C.H., Fernández, E.Á., Bayón, T.R., Fernández, A.G., Municio, F., de Celis, M.G., Ingelmo, L.Á., Herrero, J.G., Carbajo, M.J., Esteras, T.R., Baz, B.V., Baticón, C.H., Baza, E.Á., Urdiales, A.U., Gil, J.I., López, M.A., Ule, E.C., Diez, C.B., Marín, A.I., Bernabeu, M.Á., de Abajo Olea, S., Rojo, C.V., Fernández, M.Á., González, F.G., Martínez, L.G., Del Huertotrancón Moratiel, M., Ramos, N.C., Fidalgo, S.P., Coque, P.R., González, Á.G., Díez, A.B.

BACKGROUND: Few risk factors for the childhood leukemia are well established. While a small fraction of cases of childhood leukemia might be partially attributable to some diseases or ionizing radiation exposure, the role of industrial and urban pollution also needs to be assessed. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the possible effect of residential proximity to both industrial and urban areas on childhood leukemia, taking into account industrial groups and toxic substances released. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study of childhood leukemia in Spain, covering 638 incident cases gathered from the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors and for those Autonomous Regions with 100% coverage (period 1990-2011), and 13,188 controls, individually matched by year of birth, sex, and autonomous region of residence. Distances were computed from the respective subject's residences to the 1068 industries and the 157 urban areas with ≥10,000 inhabitants, located in the study area. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance to industrial and urban pollution sources were calculated, with adjustment for matching variables. RESULTS: Excess risk of childhood leukemia was observed for children living near (≤2.5 km) industries (OR=1.31; 95%CI=1.03-1.67) - particularly glass and mineral fibers (OR=2.42; 95%CI=1.49-3.92), surface treatment using organic solvents (OR=1.87; 95%CI=1.24-2.83), galvanization (OR=1.86; 95%CI=1.07-3.21), production and processing of metals (OR=1.69; 95%CI=1.22-2.34), and surface treatment of metals (OR=1.62; 95%CI=1.22-2.15) - , and urban areas (OR=1.36; 95%CI=1.02-1.80). CONCLUSIONS: Our study furnishes some evidence that living in the proximity of industrial and urban sites may be a risk factor for childhood leukemia. This study was funded by Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondode Investigación Sanitaria–FIS 12/01416 and FIS CP11/00112). Sí

The objective of this study was to identify occupations and industries with increased incidence of thyroid cancer in Swedish workers.Standardized incidence ratios were computed for each job and industry for the period 1971-1989 through record-linkage with the Swedish National Cancer and Death Registers. Age-, period-, geographically adjusted relative risks were calculated using Poisson models.Increased risks were found for teachers, construction carpenters, policemen, and prison/reformatory officials in men, and medical technicians, shop managers, tailors, and shoecutters among women. Industries with risk excess are manufacture of agricultural machinery, manufacture of computing/accessories, and public administration/police among men; and manufacture of prefabricated wooden buildings, electric installation work, and wholesale of live animals/fertilizers/oilseed/grain among women.Our results corroborate some previously reported increased risks. Further research is needed to assess the influence of specific chemical agents related with some of the highlighted work environments.

Background Congenital heart anomalies (CHA) are the most common type of birth defects, accounting for nearly one third of major congenital anomalies diagnosed prenatally or in infancy in Europe. In the majority of cases, the etiology is unknown, but an interaction of genetic and environmental factors such as industrial pollution may play a role in CHA development. The aim is to identify the relationship between CHA and the industrial pollution in the municipalities of …

Cluster detection has become an important part of the agenda of epidemiologists and public health authorities, the identification of high- and low-risk areas is fundamental in the definition of public health strategies and in the suggestion of potential risks factors. Currently, there are different cluster detection techniques available, the most popular being those using windows to scan the areas within the studied region. However, when these areas are heterogeneous in populations' sizes, scan window methods can lead to inaccurate conclusions. In order to perform cluster detection over heterogeneously populated areas, we developed a method not based on scanning windows but instead on standard mortality ratios (SMR) using irregular spatial aggregation (ISA). Its extension, i.e. irregular spatial aggregation with covariates (ISAC), includes covariates with residuals from Poisson regression. We compared the performance of the method with the flexible shaped spatial scan statistic (FlexScan) using mortality data for stomach and bladder cancer for 8,098 Spanish towns. The results show a collection of clusters for stomach and bladder cancer similar to that detected by ISA and FlexScan. However, in general, clusters detected by FlexScan were bigger and include towns with SMR, which were not statistically significant. For bladder cancer, clusters detected by ISAC differed from those detected by ISA and FlexScan in shape and location. The ISA and ISAC methods could be an alternative to the traditional scan window methods for cluster detection over aggregated data when the areas under study are heterogeneous in terms of population. The simplicity and flexibility of the methods make them more attractive than methods based on more complicated algorithms. This study was funded by Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS) Grant PI11/00871. Sí

Background The characteristics of respiratory tuberculosis (TB) favour the appearance of clusters of cases in space and time. It is important for public health authorities to know which clusters occur randomly and which merit further investigation. Objective To detect spatial and spatio-temporal clusters of respiratory TB in Spain during the period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010. Materials and methods Retrospective spatio-temporal study of respiratory TB cases reported to Spain's National Epidemiological Surveillance Network from 2008 to 2010, at a municipal level. We used the purely spatial and space-time Scan statistic estimators. All analyses were adjusted for age and sex. Results The spatial cluster analysis detected 28 significant clusters and the spatio-temporal cluster analysis detected 20 significant clusters. The most likely spatial cluster comprised seven municipalities in the Greater Barcelona Area. Most space-time clusters were situated in the same area, and were detected between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. Conclusion The distribution of TB clusters as shown by the proposed models furnishes a spatial pattern of the distribution of the disease. The two methods used can be a useful tool for analysing the distribution of respiratory TB in Spain.

Background A total of 2,514,346 metric tons (Mt) of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 until the ban on asbestos in 2002. Our objective was to study pleural cancer mortality trends as an indicator of mesothelioma mortality and update mortality predictions for the periods 2011–2015 and 2016–2020 in Spain., Methods Log-linear Poisson models were fitted to study the effect of age, period of death and birth cohort (APC) on mortality trends. Change points in cohort- and period-effect curvatures were assessed using segmented regression. Fractional power-link APC models were used to predict mortality until 2020. In addition, an alternative model based on national asbestos consumption figures was also used to perform long-term predictions., Results Pleural cancer deaths increased across the study period, rising from 491 in 1976–1980 to 1,249 in 2006–2010. Predictions for the five-year period 2016–2020 indicated a total of 1,319 pleural cancer deaths (264 deaths/year). Forecasts up to 2020 indicated that this increase would continue, though the age-adjusted rates showed a levelling-off in male mortality from 2001 to 2005, corresponding to the lower risk in post-1960 generations. Among women, rates were lower and the mortality trend was also different, indicating that occupational exposure was possibly the single factor having most influence on pleural cancer mortality., Conclusion The cancer mortality-related consequences of human exposure to asbestos are set to persist and remain in evidence until the last surviving members of the exposed cohorts have disappeared. It can thus be assumed that occupationally-related deaths due to pleural mesothelioma will continue to occur in Spain until at least 2040., The study was partially supported by a research grant from the Spanish Health Research Fund (FIS PI11/00871) and the HAR2009-07543 project of the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The Department of Labour of the Government of Catalonia provided the asbestos consumption data.

Spatial aggregation of different industrial facilities leads to simultaneous release of pollutant emissions. Our objective is to study cancer mortality risk associated with residence in the vicinity of pollutant factories. We used data on industries for year 2007 (3458 facilities). For the 8,098 Spanish towns, we defined a factor with 4 levels based on the number of factories in a radius of 2.5 km from the centroid of each town (industrial factor). We also used data of land cover use to approximate the percentage of municipal land used for industrial activities in each Spanish town (land-used variable). For both variables we fitted Poisson models with random terms to account for spatial variation. We estimated risk trends related with increasing number of factories or percentage of land used for industrial activities. We studied 33 cancer causes. For the industrial factor, 11 causes showed trend associated with increasing factor level. For the land use variable, 8 causes showed statistically significant risks. Almost all tumours related to the digestive system and the respiratory system showed increased risks. Thus mortality by these tumours could be associated to residence in towns nearby industrial areas with positive trend linked to increasing levels of industrial activity.

BACKGROUND: Records kept as a result of the implementation of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) constitute a public inventory of industries, created by the European Commission, which is a valuable resource for monitoring industrial pollution. Our objective is to ascertain whether there might be excess colorectal cancer mortality among populations residing in the vicinity of Spanish industrial installations that are governed by the IPPC Directive and E-PRTR Regulation and report their emissions to air. METHODS: An ecological study was designed to examine colorectal cancer mortality at a municipal level (8098 Spanish towns), over the period 1997-2006. We conducted an exploratory "near vs. far" analysis to estimate the relative risks (RR) of towns situated at a distance of less than 2 km from industrial installations. The analysis was repeated for each of the 24 industrial groups. RR and their 95% credible/confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated on the basis of Poisson regression models, using two types of modelling: a) the conditional autoregressive Bayesian model proposed by Besag, York and Mollié, with explanatory variables; and b) a mixed regression model. Integrated nested Laplace approximations were used as a Bayesian inference tool. RESULTS: Statistically significant RRs were detected in the vicinity of mining industry (RR 1.258; 95%CI 1.082 - 1.463), paper and wood production (RR 1.071; 95%CI 1.007 - 1.140), food and beverage sector (RR 1.069; 95%CI 1.029 - 1.111), metal production and processing installations (RR 1.065; 95% CI 1.011 - 1.123) and ceramics (RR 1.050 ; 95%CI 1.004 - 1.099). CONCLUSIONS: Given the exploratory nature of this study, it would seem advisable to check in other countries or with other designs, if the proximity of industries that emit pollutants into the air could be an added risk factor for colorectal cancer mortality. Nevertheless, some of the differences between men and women observed in the analyses of the industrial groups suggest that there may be a component of occupational exposure, little-studied in the case of cancers of the digestive system. This study was funded by a grant from Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria — FIS 080662) and the Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII- EPY-1398/09). The study formed part of the MEDEA project (Mortalidad en áreas pequeñas Españolas y Desigualdades socio-Económicas y Ambientales — Mortality in small Spanish areas and socio-economic and environmental inequalities). Mortality data were supplied by the Spanish National Statistics Institute in accordance with a specific confidentiality protocol. Sí

Background: The cause of coronary disease inframortality in Spain is unknown. The aim of this study is to identify Spanish towns with very low ischemic heart disease mortality, describe their health and social characteristics, and analyze the relationship with a series of contextual factors. Methods: We obtained the number of deaths registered for each of 8,122 Spanish towns in the periods 1989-1998 and 1999-2003. Expected deaths, standardized mortality ratio (SMR), smoothed Relative Risk (RR), and Posterior Probability (PP) of RR > 1 were calculated using Bayesian hierarchical models. Inframortality was defined as any town that displayed an RR below the 10th percentile, an SMR of under 1 for both sexes, and a PP of RR > 1 less than or equal to 0.002 for male and 0.005 for female mortality, during the two periods covered. All the remaining towns, except for those with high mortality classified as “tourist towns”, were selected as controls. The association among socioeconomic, health, dietary, lifestyle and vascular risk factors was analyzed using sequential mixed logistic regression models, with province as the random-effects variable. Results: We identified 32 towns in which ischemic heart disease mortality was half the national rate and four times lower than the European Union rate, situated in lightly populated provinces spread across the northern half of Spain, and revealed a surprising pattern of geographic aggegation for 23 of the 32 towns. Variables related with inframortality were: a less aged population (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.99); a contextual dietary pattern marked by a high fish content (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.38-3.28) and wine consumption (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.08-2.07); and a low prevalence of obesity (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.22-1.01); and, in the case of towns of over 1000 inhabitants, a higher physician-population ratio (OR 3.80, 95% CI 1.17-12.3). Conclusions: Results indicate that dietary and health care factors have an influence on inframortality. The geographical aggregation suggests that other factors with a spatial pattern, e.g., genetic or environmental might also be implicated. These results will have to be confirmed by studies in situ, with objective measurements at an individual level, This study was funded by research study grant no. PI06/0656 from Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria)

Pleural cancer mortality is an acknowledged indicator of exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma mortality but in 15%-20% of cases no exposure can be recalled. In the past, asbestos was used in many industries and it is still found in many installations. Our objective was to ascertain whether there might be excess pleural cancer mortality among populations residing in the vicinity of Spanish industrial installations that are governed by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive and the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Regulation and report their emissions to air. An ecological study was designed to examine pleural cancer mortality at a municipal level (8098 Spanish towns) over the period 1997-2006, during which 2146 deaths were registered. We conducted an exploratory "near vs. far" analysis to estimate the relative risks (RRs) of towns situated at a distance of2 km from installations. This analysis was repeated for each of the 24 industrial groups. RR and their 95% credible intervals (95% CIs) were estimated on the basis of a Poisson conditional autoregressive Bayesian model with explanatory variables. Integrated nested Laplace approximations were used as a Bayesian inference tool. Analysis showed statistically significant RRs in both sexes in the vicinity of 7 of the 24 industrial groups studied (RR, 95% CI), namely, biocide facilities (2.595, 1.459-4.621), ship-building (2.321, 1.379-3.918), glass and mineral fibre production (1.667, 1.041-2.665), non-hazardous waste treatment (1.737, 1.077-2.799), galvanising (1.637, 1.139-2.347), organic chemical plants (1.386, 1.075-1.782) and the food and beverage sector (1.255, 1.006-1.562). In the proximity of sources pertaining to the biocide, organic chemical and galvanising sectors, the risk was seen to be rising among men and women, a finding that could indicate airborne environmental exposure. These results support that residing in the vicinity of IPPC-registered industries that release pollutants to the air constitutes a risk factor for pleural cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men but its aetiology is still largely unknown. Different studies have proposed several risk factors such as ethnic origin, age, genetic factors, hormonal factors, diet and insulin-like growth factor, but the spatial distribution of the disease suggests that other environmental factors are involved. This paper studies the spatial distribution of prostate cancer mortality in an industrialized area using distances from each of a number of industrial facilities as indirect measures of exposure to industrial pollution.We studied the Gran Bilbao area (Spain) with a population of 791,519 inhabitants distributed in 657 census tracts. There were 20 industrial facilities within the area, 8 of them in the central axis of the region. We analysed prostate cancer mortality during the period 1996-2003. There were 883 deaths giving a crude rate of 14 per 100,000 inhabitants. We extended the standard Poisson regression model by the inclusion of a multiplicative non-linear function to model the effect of distance from an industrial facility. The function's shape combined an elevated risk close to the source with a neutral effect at large distance. We also included socio-demographic covariates in the model to control potential confounding.We aggregated the industrial facilities by sector: metal, mineral, chemical and other activities. Results relating to metal industries showed a significantly elevated risk by a factor of approximately 1.4 in the immediate vicinity, decaying with distance to a value of 1.08 at 12km. The remaining sectors did not show a statistically significant excess of risk at the source.Notwithstanding the limitations of this kind of study, we found evidence of association between the spatial distribution of prostate cancer mortality aggregated by census tracts and proximity to metal industrial facilities located within the area, after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics at municipality level.

BACKGROUND: Health effects linked to exposure to high air pollutant levels have been described in depth, and many recent epidemiologic studies have also consistently reported positive associations between exposure to air pollutants at low concentrations (particularly PM(2.5)) and adverse health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number of avoidable deaths associated with reducing PM(2.5) levels in Spain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For exposure assessment, we used the US Environmental Protection Agency's Community Multiscale Air Quality model to simulate air pollution levels with a spatial resolution of 18×18 km(2). Two different scenarios were compared, namely, a baseline 2004 scenario based on Spain's National Emissions Inventory and a projected 2011 scenario in which a reduction in PM(2.5) was estimated on the basis of the benefits that might be attained if specific air quality policies were implemented. Using an 18×18 km(2) grid, air pollution data were estimated for the entire Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. For these strata, crude all-cause mortality rates (ICD-10: A00-Y98) were then calculated for the over-30 and 25-74 age groups, taking into account the 2004 population figures corresponding to these same age groups, selected in accordance with the concentration-response functions (Pope CA 3rd, Burnett RT, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Ito K et al. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA 2002; 287:1132-41; Laden F, Schwartz J, Speizer FE, Dockery DW. Reduction in fine particulate air pollution and mortality: extended follow-up of the Harvard Six Cities study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006; 173:667-72.). Health impacts were assessed using the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP). RESULTS: Air quality improvement was defined as an average annual reduction of 0.7 μg/m(3) in PM(2.5) levels. Using long-term health impact assessment analysis, we estimated that 1720 (673-2760) all-cause deaths (6 per 100,000 population) in the over-30 age group and 1450 (780-2108) all-cause deaths (5 per 100,000 population) in the 25-74 age group could be prevented annually. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed the potential benefits in general mortality which could be expected if pollution control policies were successfully implemented by 2011. A specifically adapted BenMAP could be used as a tool for estimating health impacts associated with changes in air pollution in Spain. This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino) (058/PC08/3-18.1). Mortality data were supplied by the Spanish National Statistics Institute according to a specific confidentiality protocol. Research findings are responsibility of authors. Sí

Tuberculosis incidence has been associated with many factors, both epidemiological and social. In Spain, tuberculosis is a statutorily notifiable disease requiring individualised reporting. During the last few years rates of respiratory tuberculosis show a steady decline. This study sought to assess respiratory tuberculosis morbidity and mortality in association to socio-economic and epidemiological covariates and estimate its spatial distribution across the country, using geo-statistical methods.Respiratory tuberculosis incidence rates were standardised by age and sex with the data of the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE, Red Nacional de Vigilancia Epidemiológica) for 2006. The following socio-economic variables were included in the study: socio-economic status, educational level, overcrowding rate, population density, standardised immigration rate by sex, unemployment rate and average spending per person in euros. The epidemiological variables included were, such as, AIDS rate and the influenza incidence rate. To assess the association of covariables a multivariate analysis was performed using a Generalised Linear Model assuming Poisson distribution. The goestatistical method co-kriging was adjusted with the significant variables to built the spatial distribution of risk.The statistically significant covariates were overcrowding rate, standardised immigration rate by sex, educational level, unemployment rate, average spending per person in euros, AIDS rate and the influenza incidence rate. The geostatistical method shows spatial variability of the risk with higher risks in the northwest and southeast of the peninsula.Results prove that the co-kriging method is a useful tool to show the spatial distribution of risk. Alternatively, tuberculosis is associated with both social and epidemiological covariates.

BACKGROUND: Installations that burn fossil fuels to generate power may represent a health problem due to the toxic substances which they release into the environment. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether there might be excess mortality due to tumors of lung, larynx and bladder in the population residing near Spanish combustion installations included in the European Pollutant Emission Register. METHODS: Ecologic study designed to model sex-specific standardized mortality ratios for the above three tumors in Spanish towns, over the period 1994-2003. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Using mixed Poisson regression models, we analyzed: risk of dying from cancer in a 5-kilometer zone around installations that commenced operations before 1990; effect of type of fuel used; and risk gradient within a 50-kilometer radius of such installations. RESULTS: Excess mortality (relative risk, 95% confidence interval) was detected in the vicinity of pre-1990 installations for lung cancer (1.066, 1.041-1.091 in the overall population; 1.084, 1.057-1.111 in men), and laryngeal cancer among men (1.067, 0.992-1.148). Lung cancer displayed excess mortality for all types of fuel used, whereas in laryngeal and bladder cancer, the excess was associated with coal-fired industries. There was a risk gradient effect in the proximity of a number of installations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results could support the hypothesis of an association between risk of lung, laryngeal and bladder cancer mortality and proximity to Spanish combustion installations. This study was funded by Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 040041) and formed part of the MEDEA project (Mortalidad en áreas pequeñas Españolas y Desigualdades socio-Económicas y Ambientales — Mortality in small Spanish areas and socio-economic and environmental inequalities).

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is decreasing in most countries. While socioeconomic development is the main factor to which this decline has been attributed, enormous differences among countries and within regions are still observed, with the main contributing factors remaining elusive. This study describes the geographic distribution of gastric cancer mortality at a municipal level in Spain, from 1994-2003. METHODS: Smoothed relative risks of stomach cancer mortality were obtained, using the Besag-York-Molliè autoregressive spatial model. Maps depicting relative risk (RR) estimates and posterior probabilities of RR being greater than 1 were plotted. RESULTS: From 1994-2003, 62184 gastric cancer deaths were registered in Spain (7 percent of all deaths due to malignant tumors). The geographic pattern was similar for both sexes. RRs displayed a south-north and coast-inland gradient, with lower risks being observed in Andalusia, the Mediterranean coastline, the Balearic and Canary Islands and the Cantabrian seaboard. The highest risk was concentrated along the west coast of Galicia, broad areas of the Castile & Leon Autonomous community, the province of Cáceres in Extremadura, Lleida and other areas of Catalonia. CONCLUSION: In Spain, risk of gastric cancer mortality displays a striking geographic distribution. With some differences, this persistent and unique pattern is similar across the sexes, suggesting the implication of environmental exposures from sources, such as diet or ground water, which could affect both sexes and delimited geographic areas. Also, the higher sex-ratios found in some areas with high risk of smoking-related cancer mortality in males support the role of tobacco in gastric cancer etiology. This study was funded by Grant No. EPY-1176/02 from the Carlos III Institute of Health (Instituto de Salud Carlos III). Sí

Background Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) have been linked to proximity to industrial areas, but evidence regarding the health risk posed by residence near pollutant industries is very limited. The European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) is a public register that furnishes valuable information on industries that release pollutants to air and water, along with their geographical location. This study sought to explore the relationship between NHL mortality in small areas in Spain and environmental exposure to pollutant emissions from EPER-registered industries, using three Poisson-regression-based mathematical models. Methods Observed cases were drawn from mortality registries in Spain for the period 1994–2003. Industries were grouped into the following sectors: energy; metal; mineral; organic chemicals; waste; paper; food; and use of solvents. Populations having an industry within a radius of 1, 1.5, or 2 kilometres from the municipal centroid were deemed to be exposed. Municipalities outside those radii were considered as reference populations. The relative risks (RRs) associated with proximity to pollutant industries were estimated using the following methods: Poisson Regression; mixed Poisson model with random provincial effect; and spatial autoregressive modelling (BYM model). Results Only proximity of paper industries to population centres (>2 km) could be associated with a greater risk of NHL mortality (mixed model: RR:1.24, 95% CI:1.09–1.42; BYM model: RR:1.21, 95% CI:1.01–1.45; Poisson model: RR:1.16, 95% CI:1.06–1.27). Spatial models yielded higher estimates. Conclusion The reported association between exposure to air pollution from the paper, pulp and board industry and NHL mortality is independent of the model used. Inclusion of spatial random effects terms in the risk estimate improves the study of associations between environmental exposures and mortality. The EPER could be of great utility when studying the effects of industrial pollution on the health of the population.

a) To describe the methodology used to construct a deprivation index by census tract in cities, to identify the tracts with the least favorable socioeconomic conditions, and b) to analyze the association between this index and overall mortality.Several socioeconomic indicators (Census 2001) were defined by the census tracts of the following cities: Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Seville and Valencia. The correlations with the standardized mortality ratio (1996-2003), and the dimensionality of the socioeconomic indicators were studied. Finally, the selected indicators were aggregated in an index, in which the results of the factor loadings from extraction of a factor by principal components were used as weighting values.The indicators with the strongest correlations with overall mortality were those related to work, education, housing conditions and single parent homes. In the analysis of dimensionality, a first dimension appeared that contained indicators related to work (unemployment, manual and eventual workers) and education (insufficient education overall and in young people). In all the cities studied, the index created with these 5 indicators explained more than 75% of their variability. The correlations between this index and mortality generally showed higher values than those obtained with each indicator separately.The deprivation index proposed could be a useful instrument for health planning as it detects small areas of large cities with unfavorable socioeconomic characteristics and is associated with mortality. This index could contribute to the study of social inequalities in health in Spain.

BACKGROUND: The European Pollutant Emission Register in Spain (EPER-Spain) is a public inventory of pollutant industries created by decision of the European Union. The location of these industries is geocoded and the first published data correspond to 2001. Publication of these data will allow for quantification of the effect of proximity to one or more such plant on cancer and all-cause mortality observed in nearby towns. However, as errors have been detected in the geocoding of many of the pollutant foci shown in the EPER, it was decided that a validation study should be conducted into the accuracy of these co-ordinates. EPER-Spain geographic co-ordinates were drawn from the European Environment Agency (EEA) server and the Spanish Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The Farm Plot Geographic Information System (Sistema de Información Geográfica de Parcelas Agrícolas) (SIGPAC) enables orthophotos (digitalized aerial images) of any territorial point across Spain to be obtained. Through a search of co-ordinates in the SIGPAC, all the industrial foci (except farms) were located. The quality criteria used to ascertain possible errors in industrial location were high, medium and low quality, where industries were situated at a distance of less than 500 metres, more than 500 metres but less than 1 kilometre, and more than 1 kilometre from their real locations, respectively. RESULTS: Insofar as initial registry quality was concerned, 84% of industrial complexes were inaccurately positioned (low quality) according to EEA data versus 60% for Spanish MOE data. The distribution of the distances between the original and corrected co-ordinates for each of the industries on the registry revealed that the median error was 2.55 kilometres for Spain overall (according to EEA data). The Autonomous Regions that displayed most errors in industrial geocoding were Murcia, Canary Islands, Andalusia and Madrid. Correct co-ordinates were successfully allocated to 100% of EPER-Spain industries. CONCLUSION: Knowing the exact location of pollutant foci is vital to obtain reliable and valid conclusions in any study where distance to the focus is a decisive factor, as in the case of the consequences of industrial pollution on the health of neighbouring populations. This study was funded by grant FIS 040041 from the Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria) Sí