München 2004 – scientific programme
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SYWS: Neue Erkenntnisse über die biophysikalischen Wirkungen niedriger Strahlendosen
SYWS 1: Neue Erkenntnisse über die biophysikalischen Wirkungen niedriger Strahlendosen (SYWS)
SYWS 1.4: Invited Talk
Tuesday, March 23, 2004, 15:30–16:00, HS 129
Epidemiologische Studien über Strahlenwirkungen kosmischer Strahlung — •Maria Blettner — Institut für Medizinische Biometrie, Epidemiologie und Informatik, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz
Airline pilots and flight engineers are exposed to ionizing radiation of cosmic origin and other occupational and life-style factors which may influence their health status and mortality. In a cohort study in nine European countries we studied the mortality of this occupational group. Cockpit crew cohorts were identified and followed-up in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Sweden, including a total of 28 000 persons. Observed and expected deaths for the period 1960-1997 were compared based on national mortality rates. Exposure to ionizing radiation was assessed in most but not all countries using a Job-Exposure Matrix, taking into account flight hours and flight schedules of the pilots. The influence of period and duration of employment was analyzed in stratified and Poisson regression analyses.
Mean annual doses were in the range of 2mSv to 5mSv and cumulative lifetime doses for individuals did not exceed 80mSv. During the past decades a continuous increase of the 10-year moving averages of dose per block hour was found: 0.15µSv (1950), 1.91µSv (1970), 2.19µSv (1990). The annual mean for 1997 was 2.96µSv per block hour. The study comprised 547 564 person-years at risk, and 2244 deaths were recorded in male cockpit crew (Standardized mortality ratio [SMR]=0.64, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.61-0.67). Overall cancer mortality was decreased (SMR = 0.68; 95%CI 0.63-0.74). We found an increased mortality from malignant melanoma (SMR=1.78, 95%CI 1.15-2.67) and a reduced mortality from lung cancer (SMR=0.53, 95%CI 0.44-0.62). No consistent association between employment period or duration and cancer mortality was observed. Neither external and internal comparisons showed any substantially increased risks for cancer mortality due to ionizing radiation. However, the number of deaths for specific types of cancer was low and the confidence intervals of the risk estimates were rather wide.
Our study shows that cockpit crew have a low overall mortality. The results are consistent with previous reports of an increased risk of malignant melanoma in airline pilots. Occupational risk factors apart from aircraft accidents appear to be of limited influence with regard to the mortality of cockpit crew in Europe.