Anthony would concur with you and bearing in mind most brownfield land is in areas with poor health outcomes in general not entirely a surprise or rocket science for that matter.
What they would need to do I think is (if one exists) find an area which is deprived and with poor health outcomes due to deprivation, poor diet, drug addiction etc. which is not within an area impacted by significant brownfield and compare health outcomes and death rates. Would be interesting to also compare birth defects, childhood cancer rates, cancer rates in general adult population as individual data sets.
Also potentially compare different areas of brownfield land as well i.e. coalfields versus steelworks areas, and chemical industry areas to look at whether certain marker conditions are elevated. Hopefully this could also determine whether other factors such as poor AQ and industrial emissions are also contributory factors (very likely).
Without taking account of poor health associated with diet, addiction etc it all seems pointless, unscientific and the conclusions are not justified unless the factors are accounted for in the study.
Brad Balmer, BSc(Hons), FRSC
Associate Director, Land & Development
ATKINS
Chadwick House, Birchwood Park, Risley, Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 6AE | Direct:+44 (0) 1925 238 240 | Mobile 07834 566 356 | Tel:+44 (0) 1925 238000 | Fax: +44 (0) 1925 238 500
Email: [log in to unmask] | Web: www.atkinsglobal.com | Twitter: www.twitter.com/atkinsglobal.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com | Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/atkins | YouTube: www.youtube.com/wsatkinsplc
-----Original Message-----
From: Contaminated Land Management Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anthony Luke
Sent: 27 March 2014 13:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Brownfield land and morbidity/mortality in England
It does not appear that important health data such as diet, alcohol intake or smoking were included in the dataset, only the self-reported general health question from the 2001 census.
A revealing sentence tucked away in the middle of the paper says : "The large residual variation is expected as other known factors associated with the health outcomes are not included in the model".
Furthermore, at the end of the paper a number of very significant limitations are set out, especially the admission that this is merely an association and not evidence of causality. It is quite telling that the Food and Environment Research Agency research report on health effects of exposure to contaminants in soils does not appear in the references.
Dr. Anthony Luke
Transport, Environmental and Community Services The Highland Council
38 Harbour Road
Inverness IV1 1UF
Telephone 01463-228703
Mobile 07766-298104
Environmental Health welcomes your feedback. Please help us improve our service by taking our short customer survey by clicking on this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/highlandeh
-----Original Message-----
From: Contaminated Land Management Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Howard Price
Sent: 27 March 2014 12:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Brownfield land and morbidity/mortality in England
Colleagues may be interested to read this:
http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=a46105
Unless related to the business of The Highland Council, the views or opinions expressed within this e-mail are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect those of The Highland Council, or associated bodies, nor does this e-mail form part of any contract unless so stated.
Mura h-eil na beachdan a tha air an cur an c ill sa phost-d seo a' buntainn ri gnothachas Chomhairle na G idhealtachd, 's ann leis an neach fh in a chuir air falbh e a tha iad, is chan eil iad an-c mhnaidh a' riochdachadh beachdan na Comhairle, no buidhnean buntainneach, agus chan eil am post-d seo na ph irt de chunnradh sam bith mura h-eil sin air innse.
___________________________________________________________________________
The IS team in Atkins has scanned this email and any attachments for viruses and other threats; however no technology can be guaranteed to detect all threats. Always exercise caution before acting on the content of an email and before opening attachments or following links contained within the email.
This email and any attached files are confidential and copyright protected. If you are not the addressee, any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, nothing stated in this communication shall be legally binding.
The ultimate parent company of the Atkins Group is WS Atkins plc. Registered in England No. 1885586. Registered Office Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey KT18 5BW. A list of wholly owned Atkins Group companies registered in the United Kingdom and locations around the world can be found at http://www.atkinsglobal.com/site-services/group-company-registration-details
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.
|
