Aircrew members are exposed to cosmic radiation and other specific occupational factors. In a previous analysis of a large cohort of German aircrew, no increase in cancer mortality or dose-related effects was observed. In the present study, the follow-up of this cohort of 6,017 cockpit and 20,757 cabin crew members was extended by 6 years to 2003. Among male cockpit crew, the resulting all-cancer standardized mortality ratio (SMR) (n = 127) is 0.6 (95% CI 0.5-0.8), while for brain tumors it is 2.1 (95% CI 1.0-3.9). The cancer risk is significantly raised (RR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.2-4.1) among cockpit crew members employed 30 years or more compared to those employed less than 10 years. Among both female and male cabin crew, the all-cancer SMR and that for most individual cancers are close to 1. The SMR for breast cancer among female crew is 1.2 (95% CI 0.8-1.8). Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma among male cabin crew is increased (SMR 4.2; 95% CI 1.3-10.8). However, cancers associated with radiation exposure are not raised in the cohort. It is concluded that among cockpit crew cancer mortality is low, particularly for lung cancer. The positive trend of all cancer with duration of employment persists. The increased brain cancer SMR among cockpit crew requires replication in other cohorts. For cabin crew, cancer mortality is generally close to population rates. Cosmic radiation dose estimates will allow more detailed assessments, as will a pooling of updated aircrew studies currently in planning.
A case-control study of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) and childhood leukemia was conducted in West Germany. The study region included municipalities near high-power radio and TV broadcast towers, including 16 amplitude-modulated and 8 frequency-modulated transmitters. Cases were aged 0-14 years, were diagnosed with leukemia between 1984 and 2003, and were registered at the German Childhood Cancer Registry. Three age-, gender-, and transmitter-area-matched controls per case were drawn randomly from population registries. The analysis included 1,959 cases and 5,848 controls. Individual exposure to RF-EMFs 1 year before diagnosis was estimated with a field strength prediction program. Considering total RF-EMFs, the odds ratio derived from conditional logistic regression analysis for all types of leukemia was 0.86 (95% confidence interval: 0.67, 1.11) when upper (>or=95%/0.701 V/m) and lower (<90%/0.504 V/m) quantiles of the RF-EMF distribution were compared. An analysis of amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated transmitters separately did not show increased risks of leukemia. The odds ratio for all types of leukemia was 1.04 (95% confidence interval: 0.65, 1.67) among children living within 2 km of the nearest broadcast transmitter compared with those living at a distance of 10-<15 km. The data did not show any elevated risks of childhood leukemia associated with RF-EMFs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.