Radiation workers
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Summary
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Studies and Reports
- Boice J et al., Breast cancer among radiologic technologists, JAMA. 274(5):394-401, August 2, 1995.
- Conclusion. "More than 50% of the reported breast cancers could be explained by established risk factors. Employment as a radiologic technologist, however, was not found to increase the risk of breast cancer. The contribution of prolonged exposure to relatively low doses of ionizing radiation to breast cancer risk was too small to be detectable at this time."
- Doody M et al., Employment practices and breast cancer among radiologic technologists, J Occup Environ Med. 37(3):321-7, March 1995.
- Abstract. "A case-control study of breast cancer and employment practices among female radiologic technologists was conducted. The cohort from which cases and controls were derived included over 105,000 female medical radiation workers certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists during 1926-1980. Breast cancer cases (n = 528) were individually matched to an average of five control subjects (n = 2628) based on year of birth, year of certification, and length of follow-up. Procedures most commonly performed by controls included fluoroscopy (93%), portable radiographs (92%), routine radiographs (92%), multifilm procedures (87%), dental x-rays (46%), radium therapy (31%), orthovoltage (23%), and cobalt-60 (21%). Breast cancer was not significantly increased with occupational experience with any of these procedures. Furthermore, risk was not related to number of years worked with a particular procedure. This study is reassuring in indicating that medical radiation workers are not at substantial risk for developing radiation-induced breast cancer. However, because only surrogate measures of radiation exposure were available, possibility of a small risk cannot be discounted. Ongoing follow-up of this cohort for incident cancers will incorporate detailed exposure assessment schemes, providing additional information on effects of long-term low-dose radiation through occupation."
- Jablon S and Boice J, Mortality among workers at a nuclear power plant in the United States, Cancer Causes Control. 4(5):427-3, September 1993.
- Abstract. "A second follow-up of 9,000 workers at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (MD, USA) identified 346 deaths in the years 1969-88, 101 of which were attributed to malignant neoplasms. The original study had the primary purpose of assessing the feasibility of studies of workers based upon individual plant and Nuclear Regulatory Commission records. The average, cumulative, occupational dose through 1984 was low, only 21 mSv, but ranged up to 470 mSv, with 12 percent of the workers receiving more than 50 mSv. Mortality from most causes of death was low and there was a deficit of deaths from diseases of the circulatory system. Ionizing radiation exposures were not related to the probability of death from neoplasms generally or from any specific form of cancer. There were only two deaths from leukemia, whereas four were expected at population death rates. Larger numbers of workers, followed for longer periods of time, are needed to determine the mortality risk to workers in the nuclear power industry. The difficulties in obtaining dose information for transient workers were so great, and so time consuming, as to make questionable the practicability of studying the workers at a large number of power plants in this way."
