Comp. by: NVelu Date:14/1/08 Time:21:04:47 Stage:First Proof File Path://pchns1301/ WOMAT/Production/PRODENV/0000000001/0000007215/0000000016/0000763838.3D Proof by: QC by: ProjectAcronym:bs:ENGC Volume:00016 UNCORRECTED PROOF UNCORRECTED PROOF CHAPTER SIXTEEN Relationships Between Heavy Metal Distribution and Cancer Mortality Rates in the Campania Region, Italy Stefano Albanese, Maria Luisa De Luca, Benedetto De Vivo, Annamaria Lima, and Giuseppe Grezzi Contents 1. Introduction 391 2. Geology, Geochemical Data, and Cancer Mortality Data of Campania Region 392 3. Methods 395 4. Discussion of Results 399 4.1. Cancer of trachea, bronchus, and lung 399 4.2. Prostate cancer 401 4.3. Bladder and pancreatic cancer 402 5. Conclusions 402 Acknowledgments 403 References 403 Abstract We report geochemical and epidemiological data as maps representing the patterns of toxic metal concentrations and some, potentially, related pathologies in the Campania region of Italy. The comparison of a particular element distribution with specific pathologies, at regional scale, has been carried out taking into account previous epidemiological research, that demonstrated the existence of relationships between anomalous concentrations of some metals and incidence of some pathologies. This study shows that some types of cancer are found in Campania, in areas characterized by relatively high concentration of heavy metals, though, in epidemiological study, correlation does not automatically imply causation. For instance, Zn–Cd-rich areas overlap with areas of high prostate-cancer mortality; bladder and pancreatic cancer are correlated with Pb–Sb-rich areas, whereas, bronchial–tracheal–lung cancer is correlated with As-, Cd- and Pb-rich areas. 1. Introduction An important factor to relate epidemiology with the presence of potentially toxic metals in the shallow environment, hence potentially bioavailable, is the accessibility of maps reporting territorial distribution of both toxic metals and organics and significant Environmental Geochemistry # 2008 Elsevier B.V. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53159-9.00016-4 All rights reserved. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita ` di Napoli ‘‘Federico II’’, 80134 Napoli, Italy 391 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46