Occupational radiation dose estimation for Finnish aircraft cabin attendants

Kojo, Katja; Aspholm, Rafael; Auvinen, Anssi

doi:10.5271/sjweh.773

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The estimated mean annual effective dose of 2.5 mSv for the 5898 cohort members who completed the work history questionnaire was comparable to the mean annual dose of 3.1 mSv (median 3.2 mSv; range 0 -9.5 mSv) reported in another questionnaire-based exposure study of 544 Finnish fl ight attendants ( 9 ). Other studies of cosmic radiation exposure among fl ight attendants reported estimated mean annual doses of 0.7 to 3.8 mSv ( 10 , 17 , 22 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Assessment of Occupational Cosmic Radiation Exposure of Flight Attendants Using Questionnaire Data

Anderson¹,

Waters²,

Hein³

et al. 2011

aviat space environ med

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Annual effective doses were similar to doses assessed for other flight attendant cohorts; however, questionnaire-based cumulative doses assessed in this study were on average higher than those assessed for other flight attendant cohorts using company-based records. The difference is attributed to the inclusion of dose from work at other airlines and commuter flights, which was made possible by using questionnaire data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Assessment of Occupational Cosmic Radiation Exposure of Flight Attendants Using Questionnaire Data

Anderson¹,

Waters²,

Hein³

et al. 2011

aviat space environ med

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“…Occupational dose was estimated based on number of active work years assessed from the dates of start and end of cabin work obtained from Finnair and the Finnish Cabin Crew Union. This information was combined with the estimated mean annual cosmic radiation dose by calendar period, 13 to obtain a crude estimate of cosmic radiation dose for every person. The analyses were adjusted with age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 The occupational radiation dose assessment method has been described in detail elsewhere. 13 All the study subjects gave written informed consent for participation. The Finnish Advisory Board for Radiation Safety approved the study protocol.…”

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confidence: 99%

Breast cancer risk among Finnish cabin attendants: a nested case-control study

Kojo

Pukkala²,

Auvinen³

2005

Occup Environ Med

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Background: Earlier studies have found increased breast cancer risk among female cabin crew. This has been suggested to reflect lifestyle factors (for example, age at first birth), other confounding factors (for example, age at menarche), or occupational factors such as exposure to cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm alterations due to repeated jet lag. Aims: To assess the contribution of occupational versus lifestyle and other factors to breast cancer risk among cabin attendants in Finland. Methods: A standardised self-administered questionnaire on demographic, occupational, and lifestyle factors was given to 1041 cabin attendants. A total of 27 breast cancer cases and 517 non-cases completed the questionnaire. Breast cancer diagnoses were confirmed through the Finnish Cancer Registry. Exposure to cosmic radiation was estimated based on self-reported flight history and timetables. A conditional logistic regression model was used for analysis. Results: In the univariate analysis, family history of breast cancer (OR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.00 to 7.08) was the strongest determinant of breast cancer. Of occupational exposures, sleep rhythm disruptions (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 0.70 to 4.27) were positively related and disruption of menstrual cycles (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.26 to 1.96) negatively related to breast cancer. However, both associations were statistically non-significant. Cumulative radiation dose (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.83 to 1.19) showed no effect on breast cancer. Conclusions: Results suggest that breast cancer risk among Finnish cabin attendants is related to well established risk factors of breast cancer, such as family history of breast cancer. There was no clear evidence that the three occupational factors studied affected breast cancer risk among Finnish flight attendants. E arlier studies of cancer incidence and cancer mortality among aircrew personnel have shown that overall cancer risk incidence and mortality are comparable with that in the general population.1 However, several studies have found increased breast cancer risk among female cabin crew. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] This has been suggested to reflect occupational exposure to cosmic radiation, hormonal alterations due to repeated jet lag, lifestyle factors, or confounding by factors such as age at menarche and menopause. The contribution of various factors has remained unclear, due to the fact that all earlier reports have limited extent of information on potential confounders-that is, the well known risk factors for breast cancer.We conducted a nested case-control study of breast cancer among cabin attendants in Finland. The purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of occupational versus nonoccupational factors to breast cancer risk among cabin crew. METHODS Data collectionThe source population consisted of all Finnish female airline cabin attendants, who were born in 1960 or before. A total of 1098 eligible woman were identified in the source population from the files of Finnair and Finnish Cabin Crew Union (table 1).In the source populat...

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“…This assessment is an improvement over selfreported flight attendant questionnaire responses, which have been found to overreport exposures (Grajewski et al, 2004;Kojo et al, 2004). Flights are generally logged by pilots in real time, which reduces recall bias compared to retrospective questionnaire responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airline Pilot Cosmic Radiation and Circadian Disruption Exposure Assessment from Logbooks and Company Records

Grajewski

Waters

Yong

et al. 2011

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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Objectives: US commercial airline pilots, like all flight crew, are at increased risk for specific cancers, but the relation of these outcomes to specific air cabin exposures is unclear. Flight time or block (airborne plus taxi) time often substitutes for assessment of exposure to cosmic radiation. Our objectives were to develop methods to estimate exposures to cosmic radiation and circadian disruption for a study of chromosome aberrations in pilots and to describe workplace exposures for these pilots.Methods: Exposures were estimated for cosmic ionizing radiation and circadian disruption between August 1963 and March 2003 for 83 male pilots from a major US airline. Estimates were based on 523 387 individual flight segments in company records and pilot logbooks as well as summary records of hours flown from other sources. Exposure was estimated by calculation or imputation for all but 0.02% of the individual flight segments' block time. Exposures were estimated from questionnaire data for a comparison group of 51 male university faculty.Results: Pilots flew a median of 7126 flight segments and 14 959 block hours for 27.8 years. In the final study year, a hypothetical pilot incurred an estimated median effective dose of 1.92 mSv (absorbed dose, 0.85 mGy) from cosmic radiation and crossed 362 time zones. This study pilot was possibly exposed to a moderate or large solar particle event a median of 6 times or once every 3.7 years of work. Work at the study airline and military flying were the two highest sources of pilot exposure for all metrics. An index of work during the standard sleep interval (SSI travel) also suggested potential chronic sleep disturbance in some pilots. For study airline flights, median segment radiation doses, time zones crossed, and SSI travel increased markedly from the 1990s to 2003 (P trend < 0.0001). Dose metrics were moderately correlated with records-based duration metrics (Spearman's r 5 0.61-0.69).Conclusions: The methods developed provided an exposure profile of this group of US airline pilots, many of whom have been exposed to increasing cosmic radiation and circadian disruption from the 1990s through 2003. This assessment is likely to decrease exposure misclassification in health studies.

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Occupational radiation dose estimation for Finnish aircraft cabin attendants

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Assessment of Occupational Cosmic Radiation Exposure of Flight Attendants Using Questionnaire Data

Assessment of Occupational Cosmic Radiation Exposure of Flight Attendants Using Questionnaire Data

Breast cancer risk among Finnish cabin attendants: a nested case-control study

Airline Pilot Cosmic Radiation and Circadian Disruption Exposure Assessment from Logbooks and Company Records

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