Health status of residents of the town of Trino Vercellese (Italy): cancer mortality from 2000 to 2010 and other epidemiological indicators

The authors evaluated the health status of the population of Trino, a town in the province of Vercelli (Piedmont region, northern Italy) that houses several industries such as cement plants and foundries and that in the past (1964-1987) has been the site of a nuclear power plant. In detail, cancer mortality data for the years 2000 to 2010 was analyzed and the excess mortality with respect to cancer deaths registered in the city of Torino (also in the Piedmont region) from 2006 to 2008 was calculated. Significantly more deaths were observed than expected for cancers of the nervous system, leukemia, mesothelioma and peritoneal cancer. Additional indicators such as standardized years of life lost and the cumulative risk of mortality from birth to 74 years highlight several epidemiological anomalies when compared to the European population, that will be investigated in the future through case-control studies and spatial analyses.