Cosmic radiation exposure and cancer risk among airline personnel

Aim of the study

The aim is to assess occupational exposure to cosmic radiation and its effect on cancer incidence among airline cabin and cockpit crew.

Implementation

Radiation dose received during a single flight can be calculated relatively easily using software developed for this purpose. Yet, retrospective exposure assessment for cabin crew is difficult, because flight route history is not available. We have developed methods based on flight frequency and route distribution as well as personnel size for an entire airline (Kojo et al. SJWEH 2004, Kojo et al. JOEM 2007). This method is applied for collaborative analyses of four Nordic countries. The combined cohort size is approximately 10,000 persons. Cancer incidence data is obtained from national cancer registries. A previous case-control study showed no obvious association between breast cancer risk and occupational radiation exposure (Kojo et al. Occup Environ Med 2005). A case-control analysis of skin cancer is on-going aimed at clarifying the roles of ultraviolet and cosmic radiation in its aetiology among cabin crew. An extension of the European collaborative study has been initiated (COSMIC study) with coordination by University of Mainz.

Dissemination and exploitation of results

The results will be reported in an international scientific journal. The results can be utilised in evaluation of health effects of occupational exposure to ionising radiation.

Collaborators

Finnish Cancer Registry; University of Tampere, Finland; Karolinska Institute/Sweden; Cancer Registry of Norway; Cancer Registry of Iceland, Iceland; University of Mainz, Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Informatics (IMBEI).

Timetable

1992–2013

Responsible scientists

Anssi Auvinen

Publications

Kojo K, Helminen M, Leuthold G, Aspholm R, Auvinen A. Estimating the cosmic radiation dose for a cabin crew with flight timetables. JOEM 2007;49:540-545

Kojo K, Aspholm R, Auvinen A. Occupational radiation dose estimation for Finnish aircraft cabin attendants. Scand J Work Environ Health 2004;30(2):157-63.

Kojo K, Pukkala E, Auvinen A. Breast cancer risk among Finnish cabin attendants: a nested case-control study. Occup Environ Med 2005;62:488-93.

Page updated 07/02/2012