A half-century after the creation of a nuclear research and production system in the United States, estimates of health effects of external exposure to penetrating ionizing radiation continue to be dominated by studies of A-bomb survivors and medically irradiated patients. Extrapolation from high dose studies to the situation of chronic low dose exposures has been justified on the basis of assumptions about common biological mechanisms and inadequate statistical power of occupational studies. However, recent evidence suggestive of effects of chronic low dose exposures in some worker populations underscores the potential importance of occupational research. Since the 1970s, reports on radiation and cancer mortality of workers at the Hanford Site, a plutonium production facility in Washington State, have reached discrepant conclusions regarding radiation and cancer risk. We have extended vital status follow-up for a cohort of 33,459 Hanford workers through 1994 and estimated external radiation doses for time periods with missing recorded values. We will present findings on radiation-cancer dose response relationships.
Learning Objectives: NA
Keywords: Cancer, Radiation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.