Mortality from leukemia, cancer and heart disease among U.S. nuclear power plant workers, 1957–2011

Risk of Developing Non-Cancerous Central Nervous System Diseases Due to Ionizing Radiation Exposure during Adulthood: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

“…A significant decrease in mortality was reported among 53,698 U.S. nuclear power plant industry workers (mean cumulative dose: 25.7 mSv) compared with the U.S. general population (SMR= 0.50; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.77; n deaths = 20), whereas a positive and statistically significant, but highly imprecise, dose–response relationship was observed (ERR per Sv= 46.8; 95% CI: 1.51, 242; n death = 20) [ 49 ]. Later, Boice et al (2021) also reported a significant decrease in mortality from diseases of the nervous system compared with national rates in 135,193 U.S. nuclear power workers (mean dose to the brain: 33.2 mGy; max: 0.83 Gy) (SMR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.76, 0.89; n deaths = 673), and the authors observed a positive non-significant dose–response relationship for Parkinson’s disease mortality (ERR at 100 mGy = 0.24; 95% CI: −0.02, 0.50; n deaths = 140) [ 32 ].…”

“…Regarding the three studies reporting SMR for Parkinson’s disease [ 32 , 33 , 58 ] a SMR pooled was computed, showing no significant overall difference in mortality from Parkinson’s disease between the IR-exposed populations presented above and the general populations (SMR pooled = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.78, 1.18), with moderate heterogeneity (Q = 8.64, p = 0.013), I 2 = 78.86% and no publication bias ( p = 0.34) ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…A pooled ERR at 100 mGy from four studies assessing the dose–response relationship between IR exposure and Parkinson’s disease mortality [ 32 , 33 , 58 ] and incidence [ 12 ] was calculated, showing a significant positive ERR (ERR pooled at 100 mGy = 0.11; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.16) with no heterogeneity (Q = 1.37, p = 0.71), I 2 = 0.00%, and no publication bias ( p = 0.13) ( Figure 5 ). A sensitivity analysis was conducted by performing a meta-analysis containing only mortality data [ 32 , 33 , 58 ], and the result was consistent with the one presented above (ERR pooled at 100 mGy = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.36). It is noted that the ERR in each of the four studies were individually adjusted on sex and age, with a 10-year lag ( Table 2 ).…”

“…Of the 39 studies retrieved that investigated cerebrovascular diseases, 20 focused on nuclear industry workers, of which 5 reported no difference in the mortality of IR-exposed workers compared to the mortality in the reference population [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 46 , 47 ] and 8 reported a decreased mortality compared to general population [ 32 , 33 , 35 , 40 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 49 ], whereas Kreuzer et al (2021) reported a higher mortality in a cohort of male underground miners compared to the general population (SMR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.41; n deaths = 1335) [ 34 ]. When using internal comparison, Gillies et al (2017) reported a significant positive dose–response relationship for mortality due to cerebrovascular diseases in the international pooled study of radiation workers from the U.K., U.S., and France comprising 308,297 workers (INWORKS cohort) (mean dose: 0.025 Sv) (ERR per Sv = 0.49; 90% CI: 0.11, 0.92; n deaths = 4399) [ 39 ].…”

Analysis of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Peripheral Blood of Radiation Workers

“…Epidemiological results show that long-term low-dose ionizing radiation may affect the health of radiation workers, such as cancer, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases, etc. 18 , 19 Therefore, it is very important to find key molecules and markers. At present, the general peripheral blood examination focuses more on judging the health status of the subjects through the changes of blood cells and blood biochemistry, while the potential genetic changes and changes of non-coding RNA are rarely involved.…”