Aims: In Finland, the risk of childhood Type 1 diabetes varies geographically. Therefore we investigated the association between spatial variation of Type 1 diabetes and its putative environmental risk factors, zinc and nitrates.
Methods: The association was evaluated using Bayesian modelling and the geo-referenced data on diabetes cases and population.
Results: Neither zinc nor nitrate nor the urban/rural status of the area had a significant effect on the variation in incidence of childhood Type 1 diabetes.
Conclusions: The results showed that although there was no significant difference in incidence between rural and urban areas, there was a tendency to increasing risk of Type 1 diabetes with the increasing concentration of NO3 in drinking water. The fact that no significant effect was found may stem from the aggregated data being too crude to detect it.