Ionising radiation and leukaemia potential risks: review based on the workshop held during the 10th Symposium on Molecular Biology of Hematopoiesis and Treatment of Leukemia and Lymphomas at Hamburg, Germany on 5 July 1997

Unexplained clusters of childhood leukaemia have generated concern that they may be causally related to environmental exposure to ionising radiation. The workshop provides in-depth examination of the aetiology of childhood leukaemia, patterns of clustering exhibited by cases and the influence of exposure to ionising radiation. Special attention has been focussed on the EUROCLUS study of clustering of childhood leukaemia and monitoring of populations exposed to contamination following the Chernobyl accident. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that environmental ionising radiation exposure is a causative agent for small clusters such as that reported in the vicinity of the Krümmel nuclear facility