Down’s syndrome link to Sellafield dismissed

The link between a cluster of Down’s syndrome births in theLouth/Dundalk area in the 1960s and the Sellafield nuclear plant inBritain has been dismissed.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) says it nowaccepts the findings of a recent study by an international group of scientists, led by Irish epidemiologist Dr Geoffery Dean.

The study investigated a suspected link between a serious fire in anuclear reactor at Sellafield (previously called Windscale) in 1957, and births of Down’s syndrome babies to six mothers who had been pupils in a school in Dundalk in 1956-57.

A suggestion had been made that radioactive contamination from thefire might have been a factor in the incidence of Down’s syndrome inthe children.

The study found that while the cluster of cases was highly unusual, three of the mothers in question had left the school, and the Dundalkarea, some months before the fire had occurred.

Therefore the report concludes the common cause could not have been the fire at Sellafield.

The RPII said today: "In the light of this finding, the suggestion of a link between the Down’s syndrome births and the Windscale fire is unfounded."

However the institute said: "The specific new finding regardingDown’s syndrome cases does not of course call into question the well- established evidence linking exposure to ionising radiation withadverse health effects, particularly cancer, whether radiationoriginates from Sellafield or elsewhere."