Lung cancer mortality among U. S. uranium miners: a reappraisal

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983 · JNCI, J. Natl. Cancer Inst.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5659465

Whittemore, A S; McMillan, A

This report examines lung cancer mortality among a cohort of white underground uranium miners in the Colorado plateau and is based on mortality follow-up through December 31, 1977. The analytic methods represent a miner's annual age-specific lung cancer mortality rate as the (unspecified) rate among nonsmoking men born at the same time and with no mining history, multiplied by the relative risk factor R. This factor depends on the miner's total exposures to radon daughters (in working level months (WLM) and to cigarettes (in packs), accumulated from start of exposure until 10 years before his current age. Among those examined, the relative risk function giving the highest likelihood of the data was R . (1 + 0.31 X 10(-/sup 2/) WLM)(1 + 0.51 X 10(-/sup 3/) packs). This multiplicative function specifies that ratios of mortality rates for miners versus nonminers with similar age and smoking characteristics do not depend on smoking status. By contrast, differences between miners' and nonminers' mortality rates are substantially higher for smokers than for nonsmokers. The data rejected (P . .01) several additive functions for R that specify relative risk as a sum of components due to radiation and to cigarette smoking. Cumulative exposures to both radiation and cigarettes gave better fits to the data than did average annual exposure rates. Age at start of underground mining had no effect on risk, after controlling for age at lung cancer death, year of birth, and cumulative radiation and smoking exposures.

• Research Organization: Department of Family, Community and Preventive Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
• OSTI ID: 5659465
• Journal Information: JNCI, J. Natl. Cancer Inst.; (United States), Journal Name: JNCI, J. Natl. Cancer Inst.; (United States) Vol. 71:3; ISSN JJIND
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
BODY
COLLOIDS
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
ISOTOPES
LUNGS
MINERS
MINES
MORTALITY
NEOPLASMS
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
ORGANS
PERSONNEL
RADIOINDUCTION
RADON ISOTOPES
RESIDUES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SMOKES
SOLS
TIME DEPENDENCE
TOBACCO SMOKES
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
URANIUM MINES