Nationwide analysis covers 12 million death certificates with occupation data
Pilots and flight attendants die from radiation-related cancers at higher rates than people who work with radioactive materials, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The research drew on national data from more than 12 million death certificates that included information about occupations.
The authors looked at death rates from cancers tied to radiation exposures, including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and cancers of the skin, breast, thyroid, prostate and central nervous system.
Cosmic radiation comes from space. Only a small amount reaches the Earth’s surface, but exposure is greater for people flying at high altitudes.
Earlier evidence on the question has been limited, coming mainly from small studies suggesting that the exposure translates to higher cancer death rates among people who fly often, particularly pilots and flight attendants.
In an accompanying commentary, two Australian radiation experts who were not involved in the research wrote that the new study “brings important new evidence to bear on this question.”