Occupational dust and radiation exposure and mortality from stomach cancer among German uranium miners, 1946–2003

Background and objectivesIncreases in leukemia risk after exposure to gamma radiation have been well-demonstrated among nuclear energy workers and atomic bomb survivors. Although uranium miners are also exposed to gamma radiation, its health effects are not well characterized, and assumed to be insignificant relative to the effects of radon decay products. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of whole-body gamma radiation exposure on the incident risk of leukemia among Ontario Uranium Miners.MethodsBased on a retrospective cohort of 28 546 uranium miners, leukemia cases were identified through record linkages with the Canadian Cancer Registry and Canadian Mortality Database. Gamma doses were estimated through dose prediction models and badge dosimeter readings collated by the National Dose Registry, blinded from case status. Person-years at risk of leukemia were stratified by exposure category, calendar period of employment, and attained age at risk. Poisson regression was used to model the risk (RR) of incident leukemia at increasing levels of cumulative gamma radiation exposure, adjusting for calendar period and attained age.ResultsBetween 1969 and 2005, 116 incident cases of leukemia were identified. On average, these miners were employed for 4.4 years with a mean cumulative dose of 5.25 millisieverts (mSv). With exposure lagged by 2 years, preliminary analyses showed that when compared to the referent group (0 mSv), those with >30 mSv of cumulative gamma dose had a non-statistically significant increase in the risk of leukemia diagnosis (RR=2.04, 95% CI: 0.93, 4.51) with increasing, linear trend (p=0.08).ConclusionsAlthough our results did not show a statistically significant relationship between gamma radiation and leukemia incidence, it is likely due to low statistically power. Future work may include pooling the Ontario Uranium Miners cohort with other similar cohorts to better quantify the potential associated risks.

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ERRORS AND BLUNDERS IN THE ESTIMATION OF RADIATION EXPOSURE FOR THE URANIUM MINERS OF WISMUT IN GERMANY

Health Physics ◽

10.1097/01.hp.0000234052.17553.b4 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 91 (4) ◽

pp. 390-391 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gerd G. Eigenwillig

Keyword(s):

Radiation Exposure ◽

Uranium Miners

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Radiation Exposure of Uranium Miners

10.17226/20596 ◽

1968 ◽

Keyword(s):

Radiation Exposure ◽

Uranium Miners

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Analysis of Statistical Links between Radiation Dose and Cancer Mortality among the Population Residing in Areas Contaminated with Radionuclides after the Chernobyl Accident

Medical Radiology and radiation safety ◽

10.12737/1024-6177-2019-64-6-5-11 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (6) ◽

pp. 5-11

Author(s):

A. Gorski ◽

M. Maksyutov ◽

K. Tumanov ◽

O. Vlasov ◽

E. Kochergina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Radiation Exposure ◽

Stomach Cancer ◽

Chernobyl Accident ◽

Cancer Mortality ◽

Causes Of Death ◽

Age Groups ◽

Exposure Dose ◽

Malignant Neoplasms ◽

Icd 10 ◽

Group 1

Purpose: To evaluate the evidence for the correlation between radiation exposure of the population following the Chernobyl accident and cancer mortality using statistical links. Materials and methods: Data on deaths and causes of death for the period between 1993 and 2017 used in the study were taken from the National Radiation Epidemiological Registry (NRER). The number of deaths in males is 30771 persons including 5407 cancer deaths, the number of deaths in females – 29033 persons including 3472 cancer deaths. For analysis of statistical links between radiation exposure and causes of death data mining algorithms free of a priori statements on probabilistic distributions of doses and diagnoses were used. Tables of contingency of deaths in two dose groups: the group 0 – <0.014 Sv and the group 1 – ≥0.014 Sv; and in three age groups: group 0 – <17 years old, group 1 – 18–60 years old, group 2 – 60+ years old were used for analysis. About 90 % of individual effective doses were accumulated from 1986 till 1993. Mean effective dose is 0.024 Sv. Results: For the population of four areas of the Russian Federation which are most contaminate after to accident on the CNPP significant association of all causes of death from cancer and for three-digit headings ICD-10 with an exposure dose was not found. Statistically significant association between dose and pancreatic cancer (C25.9 ICD-10) and stomach cancer (С16.9) in males, stomach cancer (С16.9) and malignant neoplasms of bronchus and lungs (C34.9) in females was found. The association between dose and cancer death was demonstrated in 150–230 cases. These diagnoses of causes of death first of all have to be a subject of more sensing and specific radiation and epidemiological analysis considering possible the confounding factors Conclusion: The presented method is exploratory in nature and can be used to find a direction of research necessary for making more accurate evaluation of epidemiological evidence for the correlation between dose and effect. The method may be useful for evaluation of the association between radiation exposure and pathological response (death).

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