PURPOSE: To examine exposure-response relationships between ionizing radiation and several mortality outcomes in a subgroup of 4,054 men of the German uranium miner cohort study, who worked between 1946 and 1989 in milling facilities, but never underground or in open pit mines. METHODS: Mortality follow-up was from 1946 to 2008, accumulating 158,383 person-years at risk. Cumulative exposure to radon progeny in working level months (WLM) (mean = 8, max = 127), long-lived radionuclides from uranium ore dust in kBqh/m(3) (mean = 3.9, max = 132), external gamma radiation in mSv (mean = 26, max = 667) and silica dust was estimated by a comprehensive job-exposure matrix. Internal Poisson regression models were applied to estimate the linear excess relative risk (ERR) per unit of cumulative exposure. RESULTS: Overall, a total of 457, 717 and 111 deaths occurred from malignant cancer, cardiovascular diseases and non-malignant respiratory diseases, respectively. Uranium ore dust and silica dust were not associated with mortality from any of these disease groups. A statistically significant relationship between cumulative radon exposure and mortality from all cancers (ERR/100 WLM = 1.71; p = 0.02), primarily due to lung cancer (n = 159; ERR/100 WLM = 3.39; p = 0.05), was found. With respect to cumulative external gamma radiation, an excess of mortality of solid cancers (n = 434; ERR/Sv = 1.86; p = 0.06), primarily due to stomach cancer (n = 49, ERR/Sv = 10.0; p = 0.12), was present. CONCLUSION: The present findings show an excess mortality from lung cancer due to radon exposure and from solid cancers due to external gamma radiation in uranium millers that was not statistically significant. Exposure to uranium was not associated with any cause of death, but absorbed organ doses were estimated to be low.
PURPOSE: To examine exposure-response relationships between ionizing radiation and several mortality outcomes in a subgroup of 4,054 men of the German uranium miner cohort study, who worked between 1946 and 1989 in milling facilities, but never underground or in open pit mines. METHODS: Mortality follow-up was from 1946 to 2008, accumulating 158,383 person-years at risk. Cumulative exposure to radon progeny in working level months (WLM) (mean = 8, max = 127), long-lived radionuclides from uranium ore dust in kBqh/m(3) (mean = 3.9, max = 132), external gamma radiation in mSv (mean = 26, max = 667) and silica dust was estimated by a comprehensive job-exposure matrix. Internal Poisson regression models were applied to estimate the linear excess relative risk (ERR) per unit of cumulative exposure. RESULTS: Overall, a total of 457, 717 and 111 deaths occurred from malignant cancer, cardiovascular diseases and non-malignant respiratory diseases, respectively. Uranium ore dust and silica dust were not associated with mortality from any of these disease groups. A statistically significant relationship between cumulative radon exposure and mortality from all cancers (ERR/100 WLM = 1.71; p = 0.02), primarily due to lung cancer (n = 159; ERR/100 WLM = 3.39; p = 0.05), was found. With respect to cumulative external gamma radiation, an excess of mortality of solid cancers (n = 434; ERR/Sv = 1.86; p = 0.06), primarily due to stomach cancer (n = 49, ERR/Sv = 10.0; p = 0.12), was present. CONCLUSION: The present findings show an excess mortality from lung cancer due to radon exposure and from solid cancers due to external gamma radiation in uranium millers that was not statistically significant. Exposure to uranium was not associated with any cause of death, but absorbed organ doses were estimated to be low.
Authors: E Cardis; M Vrijheid; M Blettner; E Gilbert; M Hakama; C Hill; G Howe; J Kaldor; C R Muirhead; M Schubauer-Berigan; T Yoshimura; F Bermann; G Cowper; J Fix; C Hacker; B Heinmiller; M Marshall; I Thierry-Chef; D Utterback; Y-O Ahn; E Amoros; P Ashmore; A Auvinen; J-M Bae; J Bernar; A Biau; E Combalot; P Deboodt; A Diez Sacristan; M Eklöf; H Engels; G Engholm; G Gulis; R R Habib; K Holan; H Hyvonen; A Kerekes; J Kurtinaitis; H Malker; M Martuzzi; A Mastauskas; A Monnet; M Moser; M S Pearce; D B Richardson; F Rodriguez-Artalejo; A Rogel; H Tardy; M Telle-Lamberton; I Turai; M Usel; K Veress Journal: Radiat Res Date: 2007-04 Impact factor: 2.841
Authors: Werner Rühm; Joachim Breckow; Günter Dietze; Anna Friedl; Rüdiger Greinert; Peter Jacob; Stephan Kistinger; Rolf Michel; Wolfgang-Ulrich Müller; Heinz Otten; Christian Streffer; Wolfgang Weiss Journal: Radiat Environ Biophys Date: 2019-11-01 Impact factor: 1.925
Authors: Lydia B Zablotska; Nora Fenske; Maria Schnelzer; Sergey Zhivin; Dominique Laurier; Michaela Kreuzer Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2017-09-22 Impact factor: 3.015
Authors: Wolfgang-Ulrich Müller; Augusto Giussani; Werner Rühm; Jean-Francois Lecomte; John Harrison; Michaela Kreuzer; Christina Sobotzki; Joachim Breckow Journal: Radiat Environ Biophys Date: 2016-06-22 Impact factor: 1.925