Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Cosmic Radiation (cosmic + radiation)
Selected AbstractsIncidence of Cancer Among Female Flight Attendants: A Meta-AnalysisJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2006Osamu Tokumaru MD Background Airline flight personnel work in a unique environment with exposure to known or suspected carcinogens and mutagens including ionizing cosmic radiation. A meta-analysis was conducted to study whether the occupational exposure of female flight attendants (FA) increased their relative risk of cancer incidence. Methods A bibliographical computer search from 1966 to 2005 of cancer incidence cohort studies of female FA was performed. Combined relative risks (RRc) in cancer incidence were calculated by means of meta-analysis. Results RRc and 95% confidence interval (CI) for malignant melanoma and breast cancer in female FA were 2.13 (95% CI: 1.58,2.88) and 1.41 (1.22,1.62) (p < 0.0001). Excess risk was not significant for all-site cancer with RRc of 1.10 (0.99,1.21). Conclusions The meta-analysis confirmed the significantly increased risks for malignant melanoma and breast cancer in female FA. Increased exposure to cosmic radiation during flight has been suggested as a potential occupational risk factor. Ultraviolet radiation exposure on board seems an unlikely occupational risk, but nonoccupational leisure time sun exposure is a possible risk factor. The etiology of the observed increase in incidence of some cancers remains controversial because assessment of possible confounders, especially nonoccupational exposure factors, has thus far been limited. [source] Development of historical exposure estimates of cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm disruption for cohort studies of Pan Am flight attendants,,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 10 2009Martha A. Waters PhD Abstract Background The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is conducting cohort studies of flight crew employed by the former Pan American World Airways company (Pan Am) as part of an effort to examine flight crew workplace exposures and health effects. Flight crew are exposed to elevated levels of cosmic radiation and to disruption of circadian rhythm when flying across multiple time zones. Methods exist to calculate cosmic radiation effective doses on individual flights; however, only work histories which provided an employee's domicile (home base) history rather than a record of every flight flown were available. Methods/Results We developed a method for estimating individual cumulative domicile-based cosmic radiation effective doses and two metrics for circadian rhythm disruption for each flight attendant: cumulative times zones crossed and cumulative travel time during the standard sleep interval. Conclusions The domicile-exposure matrix developed was used to calculate exposure estimates for a cohort mortality study of former Pan Am flight attendants. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:751,761, 2009. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||