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Risk of leukaemia mortality from exposure to ionising radiation in US nuclear workers: a pooled case-control study.

Daniels RD; Bertke S; Waters KM; Schubauer-Berigan MK

Occup Environ Med 2013 Jan; 70(1):41-48

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2012-100906

20041530

Objective: To follow-up on earlier studies of the leukaemogenicity of occupational ionising radiation exposure. Methods: We conducted a nested case-control analysis of leukaemia mortality in a pooled cohort of US nuclear workers followed through 2005. Each case was matched to four controls on attained age. Exposures were estimated from available records. General relative risk models were used to estimate the excess relative risk (ERR) of leukaemia, excluding chronic lymphocytic (CLL), acute myeloid leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia and CLL while controlling for potential confounders. Preferred exposure lags and time-windows of risks were calculated using joint maximum likelihood. Dose-response was also examined using linear, linear-quadratic, categorical and restricted cubic spline models. Results: There were 369 leukaemia deaths in 105 245 US nuclear workers. The adjusted ERR for non-CLL leukaemia was 0.09 (95% CI -0.17 to 0.65) per 100 mGy. Elevated non-CLL risks were observed from exposures occurring 6-14 years prior to attained age of cases (ERR per 100 mGy=1.9; 95% CI <0 to 8.0). Lagged models indicated non-linearity of risk at very low (<10 mGy) and high (>100 mGy) doses, which contributed to the imprecision of results in linear models. Similar risk attenuation was not evident in time-windowsbased models. Conclusions: Risk estimates were in reasonable agreement with previous estimates, with the temporality of non-CLL leukaemia risk as a dominant factor in dose response analyses. Future research should focus on methods that improve evaluations of the dose-response, particularly in the low-dose range.

Leukemogenesis; Ionizing-radiation; Exposure-levels; Case-studies; Mortality-rates; Morbidity-rates; Nuclear-energy; Nuclear-hazards; Workers; Work-environment; Risk-factors; Dose-response

Dr Robert D. Daniels, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies (DSHEFS), Industrywide Studies Branch (IWSB), 4676 Columbia Parkway, Mailstop R-13, Cincinnati, OH 45226

OEMEEM

20130101

Journal Article

rtd2@cdc.gov

2013

B10152012

1

1351-0711

DSHEFS

Manufacturing; Services

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

OH