Occupational Radiation Exposure and Risk of Cataract Incidence in a Cohort of US Radiologic Technologists

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alexander BH ; Bernier M-O ; Borrego D ; Cahoon EK ; Doody MM ; Hamada N ; Kitahara CM ; Linet MS ; Little MP ; Meyer C ; Miller JS ; Preston DL ; Simon SL ; Velazquez-Kronen, Raquel
• Description:
  It has long been known that relatively high-dose ionising radiation exposure (>1 Gy) can induce cataract, but there has been no evidence that this occurs at low doses (<100 mGy). To assess low-dose risk, participants from the US Radiologic Technologists Study, a large, prospective cohort, were followed from date of mailed questionnaire survey completed during 1994-1998 to the earliest of self-reported diagnosis of cataract/cataract surgery, cancer other than non-melanoma skin, or date of last survey (up to end 2014). Cox proportional hazards models with age as timescale were used, adjusted for a priori selected cataract risk factors (diabetes, body mass index, smoking history, race, sex, birth year, cumulative UVB radiant exposure). 12,336 out of 67,246 eligible technologists reported a history of diagnosis of cataract during 832,479 person years of follow-up, and 5509 from 67,709 eligible technologists reported undergoing cataract surgery with 888,420 person years of follow-up. The mean cumulative estimated 5-year lagged eye-lens absorbed dose from occupational radiation exposures was 55.7 mGy (interquartile range 23.6-69.0 mGy). Five-year lagged occupational radiation exposure was strongly associated with self-reported cataract, with an excess hazard ratio/mGy of 0.69 × 10-3 (95% CI 0.27 × 10-3 to 1.16 × 10-3, p < 0.001). Cataract risk remained statistically significant (p = 0.030) when analysis was restricted to < 100 mGy cumulative occupational radiation exposure to the eye lens. A non-significantly increased excess hazard ratio/mGy of 0.34 × 10-3 (95% CI - 0.19 × 10-3 to 0.97 × 10-3, p = 0.221) was observed for cataract surgery. Our results suggest that there is excess risk for cataract associated with radiation exposure from low-dose and low dose-rate occupational exposures. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Aging
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Eye
  • Genetics
  • Neoplasms
  • Occupational Health
  • Race Factors
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Radiation exposure
  • Exposure levels
  • Risk factors
  • Eye diseases
  • Eyes
  • Eyesight
  • Questionnaires
  • Cancer
  • Hazards
  • Models
  More +
• ISSN:
  0393-2990
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  33
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052665
• Citation:
  Eur J Epidemiol 2018 Dec; 33(12):1179-1191
• Email:
  mark.little@nih.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20250630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212164/cdc_212164_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 517.29 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9e084db6f053645a371daf34aad66fac7ee4ac9d52a67666d82f8122b8e98d35d1c8e62df960846b8242a5797d52d2d65b063e37b5c799ce5fa1f1b9ab06d9c9