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Title: Radiation Effects on Mortality from Solid Cancers Other than Lung, Liver, and Bone Cancer in the Mayak Worker Cohort: 1948–2008

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. Southern Urals Biophysics Inst., Ozyorsk (Russian Federation). Lab. of Epidemiology
  2. Hirosoft International, Eureka, CA (United States)
  3. National Cancer Inst., Bethesda, MD (United States). Radiation Epidemiology Branch. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics
  4. National Cancer Inst., Bethesda, MD (United States). Radiation Epidemiology Branch. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics; International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon (France). Section of Environment and Radiation
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Radiation effects on mortality from solid cancers other than lung, liver, and bone cancer in the Mayak worker cohort: 1948–2008. The cohort of Mayak Production Association (PA) workers in Russia offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of prolonged low dose rate external gamma exposures and exposure to plutonium in a working age population. We examined radiation effects on the risk of mortality from solid cancers excluding sites of primary plutonium deposition (lung, liver, and bone surface) among 25,757 workers who were first employed in 1948–1982. During the period 1948–2008, there were 1,825 deaths from cancers other than lung, liver and bone. Using colon dose as a representative external dose, a linear dose response model described the data well. The excess relative risk per Gray for external gamma exposure was 0.16 (95% CI: 0.07 – 0.26) when unadjusted for plutonium exposure and 0.12 (95% CI 0.03 – 0.21) when adjusted for plutonium dose and monitoring status. There was no significant effect modification by sex or attained age. Plutonium exposure was not significantly associated with the group of cancers analyzed after adjusting for monitoring status. Site-specific risks were uncertainly estimated but positive for 13 of the 15 sites evaluated with a statistically significant estimate only for esophageal cancer. Comparison with estimates based on the acute exposures in atomic bomb survivors suggests that the excess relative risk per Gray for prolonged external exposure in Mayak workers may be lower than that for acute exposure but, given the uncertainties, the possibility of equal effects cannot be dismissed.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Hirosoft International, Eureka, CA (United States); National Cancer Inst., Bethesda, MD (United States); Southern Urals Biophysics Inst., Ozyorsk (Russian Federation)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security (AU); National Inst. of Health (NIH) (United States); Russian Federal Government
Grant/Contract Number:
HS0000091; HHSN261200900090C
OSTI ID:
1627746
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 10, Issue 2; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (15)

Cancer mortality and incidence following external occupational radiation exposure: an update of the 3rd analysis of the UK national registry for radiation workers journal August 2018
Nuclear epidemiologic studies and the estimation of DREF journal February 2018
Registry for chronic radiation syndrome in a worker cohort of the Russian nuclear enterprise, Mayak Production Association journal August 2019
Breast cancer risk and protracted low-to-moderate dose occupational radiation exposure in the US Radiologic Technologists Cohort, 1983–2008 journal September 2016
Studies of radiation health effects inform EPA actions journal September 2019
Implications of recent epidemiologic studies for the linear nonthreshold model and radiation protection journal August 2018
Dose limits for occupational exposure to ionising radiation and genotoxic carcinogens: a German perspective journal November 2019
Mortality of populations potentially exposed to ionising radiation, 1953–2010, in the closed city of Ozyorsk, Southern Urals: a descriptive study journal November 2015
Radiation epidemiology and health effects following low-level radiation exposure journal September 2019
Radiation Dosimetry of Inhaled Radioactive Aerosols: CFPD and MCNP Transport Simulations of Radionuclides in the Lung journal November 2019
Association of Radioactive Iodine Treatment With Cancer Mortality in Patients With Hyperthyroidism journal August 2019
Risk of cancer from occupational exposure to ionising radiation: retrospective cohort study of workers in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States (INWORKS) journal October 2015
Incidence and Mortality of Solid Cancers in People Exposed In Utero to Ionizing Radiation: Pooled Analyses of Two Cohorts from the Southern Urals, Russia journal August 2016
Correction of confidence intervals in excess relative risk models using Monte Carlo dosimetry systems with shared errors journal April 2017
Activation of homologous recombination DNA repair in human skin fibroblasts continuously exposed to X-ray radiation journal August 2015

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Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
plutonium
public and occupational health
colon
alcohol consumption
death rates
cancer risk factors
liver
radiation effects