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Table (ix)—Lung cancer, males only.
Standardised mortality ratio, social class, percentage bom in London, and
atmospheric pollution.
Boroughs
S.M.R.
1950-53
(England
and Wales
= 100)
Percentage
of social
classes
IV and V
1951
Percentage
born
in
London
1951
Atmospheric
pollution
1944-54
Solid
deposit
(a)
So4
(b)
Chelsea
164
23
45
653
119
Fulham
147
27
64
1,028
188
Hammersmith
161
30
58
(c)
(c)
Kensington
139
23
39
504
109
Hampstead
155
15
37
(c)
(c)
Paddington
172
27
44
413
400
St. Marylebone
139
22
42
497
114
St. Pancras
203
32
58
516
(c)
Westminster, City of
124
27
36
779
122
Finsbury
206
39
74
503
(c)
Holborn
141
30
45
456
(c)
Islington
188
31
70
521
(c)
Hackney
153
26
75
425
98
Shoreditch
193
39
82
(c)
(c)
Stoke Newington
154
22
67
374
97
Bethnal Green
222
38
83
(c)
(c)
City of London
100
43
47
637
170
Poplar
167
44
80
982
210
Stepney
163
46
72
496
119
Deptford
162
35
75
(c)
(c)
Greenwich
130
32
69
1,300
240
Woolwich
142
25
59
593
138
Camberwell
152
30
75
378
373
Lewisham
127
22
66
432
104
Bermondsey
176
45
84
(c)
(c)
Lambeth
143
29
65
614
107
Southwark
184
42
76
2,658
188
Battersea
147
30
70
1,145
127
Wandsworth
142
21
60
(c)
(c)
London County
156
29
63
723
168
(a) Total deposited matter, grams per 100 square metres per month, winter months only.
(b) Dissolved sulphate ion (so4) per 100 square metres per month, winter months only.
(c) No deposit gauge.
The pattern of mortality for the metropolitan boroughs is also shown in Figure 3
on page 12. There is a ' wedge ' of high ratios running from St. Pancras and Islington
in the north through Finsbury and Shoreditch to Bermondsey and Southwark in the
south ; the City escapes the higher ratios and breaks the continuity of this wedge, but
because of the smallness of the experience (only eight deaths in the four years) the ratio
for the City is not a reliable measure and in this context and what follows, should be
ignored. In general the north side of the river has higher ratios than the south and it
should be noted in this connection that the prevailing south-westerly winds will tend to
blow atmospheric pollution away from the south to the north.
As regards the other items in the table, social class has been included because the
Registrar General's census volume on Occupational Mortality‡ shows, in general, a
rising gradient of male mortality from cancer of the lung as social class descends from
class I to class V (mortality from this cause in males is 45 per cent, higher in social
class V than it is in social class I). The percentage born in London is given as a very
‡ Registrar General's Decennial Supplement (1951)—Occupational Mortality.
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