The 15-Country Collaborative Study of Cancer Risk among Radiation Workers in the Nuclear Industry: Estimates of Radiation-Related Cancer Risks

Abstract

A 15-Country collaborative cohort study was conducted to provide direct estimates of cancer risk following protracted low doses of ionizing radiation. Analyses included 407,391 nuclear industry workers monitored individually for external radiation and 5.2 million person-years of follow-up. A significant association was seen between radiation dose and all-cause mortality [excess relative risk (ERR) 0.42 per Sv, 90% CI 0.07, 0.79; 18,993 deaths]. This was mainly attributable to a dose-related increase in all cancer mortality (ERR/Sv 0.97, 90% CI 0.28, 1.77; 5233 deaths). Among 31 specific types of malignancies studied, a significant association was found for lung cancer (ERR/Sv 1.86, 90% CI 0.49, 3.63; 1457 deaths) and a borderline significant (P = 0.06) association for multiple myeloma (ERR/Sv 6.15, 90% CI <0, 20.6; 83 deaths) and ill-defined and secondary cancers (ERR/Sv 1.96, 90% CI -0.26, 5.90; 328 deaths). Stratification on duration of employment had a large effect on the ERR/Sv, reflecting a strong healthy worker survivor effect in these cohorts. This is the largest analytical epidemiological study of the effects of low-dose protracted exposures to ionizing radiation to date. Further studies will be important to better assess the role of tobacco and other occupational exposures in our risk estimates.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Seoul National University KR
• Health Canada CA
• North Carolina Division of Public Health US
• National Cancer Institute UA
• University of Trnava SK
• Centre international de recherche sur le cancer FR
• Belgian Nuclear Research Centre BE
• Sundsvall Municipality SE
• Vilnius University LT
• Institute of Industrial Ecology RU
• American University of Beirut LB
• Slovenské Elektrárne (Slovakia) SK
• Tampere University FI
• Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire FR
• Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority FI
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health US
• Institut für Medizinische Biometrie, Informatik und Epidemiologie DE
• Institut Gustave Roussy FR
• National Cancer Institute LT
• Frédéric Joliot-Curie National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene HU
• Électricité de France (France) FR
• Columbia University US
• Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz DE
• Vattenfall (Sweden) SE
• Atomic Energy (Canada) CA
• National Board of Health and Welfare SE
• Merck Serono (Switzerland) CH
• MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit GB
• Semmelweis University HU
• National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs AU
• Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear ES
• Federal Office of Public Health CH
• Finnish Cancer Registry FI
• Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives FR

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