International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 28, 428-436, Copyright © 1999 by International Epidemiological Association
DB Richardson and S Wing
BACKGROUND: Workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) were
individually monitored for whole body exposure to ionizing radiation.
Studies of these workers may provide valuable information about the
long-term effects of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation. Since
biological changes occur as adults age, a potentially important question in
these investigations is whether sensitivity to the carcinogenic effects of
ionizing radiation changes with age at exposure. METHODS: Vital status and
cause of death were ascertained through 1990 for 8307 white males hired at
ORNL from 1943 through 1972. Associations between whole body ionizing
radiation dose and all-cancer mortality were quantified using life table
regression methods for time dependent exposures. Analyses focused of
differences in radiation- cancer associations with age at exposure. Length
of follow-up, period of hire, and age at risk were considered as
alternative explanations for effects of age at exposure. RESULTS:
Cumulative radiation dose was associated with a 1.8% (SE = 0.9) increase in
all-cancer mortality per 10 mSv, assuming a 10-year lag between exposure
and mortality. However, radiation doses received at older ages exhibited
larger associations with cancer mortality than doses received at younger
ages. Doses received after age 45 were associated with a 5.9% (SE = 1.7)
increase in cancer mortality per 10 mSv, adjusted for doses received before
age 45. Dose-response associations between cancer mortality and doses
received after age 45 appeared consistent across periods of follow-up,
periods of hire, and ages at risk. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that
sensitivity to the carcinogenic effects of ionizing radiation may increase
with older ages at exposure. More attention should be given to the role of
age at exposure in studies of the health effects of low- level exposure to
ionizing radiation, and to efforts to limit exposure to ionizing radiation.
ARTICLES
Greater sensitivity to ionizing radiation at older age: follow-up of workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through 1990
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599-8050, USA. drichard@sph.unc.edu
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