Hajo Zeeb1, Maria Blettner, Gaël P Hammer, Ingo Langner. 1. School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University Bielefeld, Germany. Hajo.Zeeb@uni-bielefeld.de
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cockpit crew in civil aviation are exposed to several potential health hazards, among them cosmic ionizing radiation. To assess the influence of occupational and other factors on mortality we conducted a cohort study among cockpit crew. METHODS: All pilots and other cockpit personnel of two German airlines were traced through registries and other sources for the period 1960-1997. Standardized mortality ratios, with German population rates as the reference, were calculated. We estimated the individual radiation dose based on individual job histories and assessed dose-response trends in stratified and regression analyses. RESULTS: We compiled a cohort of 6061 male cockpit personnel, yielding 105,037 person-years of observation. The maximum estimated individual radiation dose was 80.5 mSv. Among 255 deaths overall (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.42-0.54) there were 76 cancer deaths (SMR = 0.56; CI = 0.43 - 0.74). Most cancer and cardiovascular SMRs were reduced. A slight increase was seen for brain cancer (SMR = 1.68; CI = 0.66-3.62). Employment duration was associated with the all-cancer mortality in Poisson regression analyses. No other dose-response relation was found. CONCLUSIONS: German cockpit crew have a low overall and cancer mortality. The role of occupational causes, and particularly cosmic radiation, appears limited.
BACKGROUND: Cockpit crew in civil aviation are exposed to several potential health hazards, among them cosmic ionizing radiation. To assess the influence of occupational and other factors on mortality we conducted a cohort study among cockpit crew. METHODS: All pilots and other cockpit personnel of two German airlines were traced through registries and other sources for the period 1960-1997. Standardized mortality ratios, with German population rates as the reference, were calculated. We estimated the individual radiation dose based on individual job histories and assessed dose-response trends in stratified and regression analyses. RESULTS: We compiled a cohort of 6061 male cockpit personnel, yielding 105,037 person-years of observation. The maximum estimated individual radiation dose was 80.5 mSv. Among 255 deaths overall (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.42-0.54) there were 76 cancer deaths (SMR = 0.56; CI = 0.43 - 0.74). Most cancer and cardiovascular SMRs were reduced. A slight increase was seen for brain cancer (SMR = 1.68; CI = 0.66-3.62). Employment duration was associated with the all-cancer mortality in Poisson regression analyses. No other dose-response relation was found. CONCLUSIONS: German cockpit crew have a low overall and cancer mortality. The role of occupational causes, and particularly cosmic radiation, appears limited.
Authors: I Langner; M Blettner; M Gundestrup; H Storm; R Aspholm; A Auvinen; E Pukkala; G P Hammer; H Zeeb; J Hrafnkelsson; V Rafnsson; H Tulinius; G De Angelis; A Verdecchia; T Haldorsen; U Tveten; H Eliasch; N Hammar; A Linnersjö Journal: Radiat Environ Biophys Date: 2003-11-28 Impact factor: 1.925
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