Mortality among workers at the Savannah River nuclear fuels production facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cragle DL ; Robertson-DeMers K ; Watkins JP
• Description:
  Studies of two other cohorts of workers in the radiation industry have found increases in the rate of leukemia when compared to standard national populations but did not identify a significant dose-response relationship between leukemia and dose. Other studies found no increase in leukemia deaths but did identify a significant dose-response when controlling for age, calendar period and the exclusion of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, recent analyses of the Hanford population do not indicate increased risks. Table 3 presents characteristics reported in recently published studies of populations occupationally exposed to ionizing. Generally, the five studies (including the present study) that show positive dose-response relationships for leukemia are those that have the highest average cumulative dose per radiation worker. There does not appear to be a similar relationship between positive risk estimates for cancer and average cumulative dose. Comparison of ERR estimates for these populations show the estimate for SRS (13.61 per Sv) is commensurate with the estimates derived for the Atomic Energy of Canada12 (19.0 per Sv) and Sellafield (13.92 per Sv) populations. The SRS estimate is much higher than those for the International Combined population (2.18 per Sv) and the A-bomb survivors (3.67 per Sv). Highest estimates are based on the fewest number of deaths while lowest estimates are based on the most deaths. Confidence intervals for all estimates overlap. Since leukemia is a relatively rare disease, there will be few deaths in small population studies, leading to uncertainty in the risk estimates. Modeling of prostate cancers was not attempted because the dose distribution among the individuals who died with prostate cancer or who were known to have prostate cancer but actually died of another cause, revealed that 19 of the 22 individuals had a total cumulative dose of less than 20 mSv. With additional years of follow-up, examination of the prostate cancers with respect to radiation exposure, particularly tritium, should be undertaken, particularly in light of findings in Atomic Weapons Establishment workers and the potential for exposure to tritium at the Savannah River Site. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Mortality Occupational Health Radiation Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Mortality Study Ionizing-radiation Leukemia Mortality-data Mortality-rates Mortality-surveys Occupational Cohort Radiation-contamination Radiation-effects Radiation-exposure Radiation-hazards Radiation Exposure Statistical-analysis Trend Test

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• Publisher:
  American Statistical Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 4 ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  83-87
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047745
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the Section on Statistics in Epidemiology. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association, 1998 Sep; :83-87
• Contact Point Address:
  Donna Cragle, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, P.O. Box 117, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0117
• CAS Registry Number:
  Tritium (CAS RN 10028-17-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the Section on Statistics in Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3fefd2136aabf8d671ad2997b06f31b206e174785fed3fd5a3be87a756cddeee8e5f6d6e2098cd87291ac535bf9b9e30e87593d84e646c7e6c6f0abb99cc19b9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202737/cdc_202737_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 85.52 KB ]