title: Uranium mining and lung cancer among Navajo men in New Mexico and Arizona, 1969 to 1993.
abstract: Navajo men who were underground miners have excess risk of lung cancer. To further characterize the long-term consequences of uranium mining in this high-risk population, we examined lung cancer incidence among Navajo men residing in New Mexico and Arizona from 1969 to 1993 and conducted a population-based case-control study to estimate the risk of lung cancer for Navajo uranium miners. Uranium mining contributed substantially to lung cancer among Navajo men over the 25-year period following the end of mining for the Navajo Nation. Sixty-three (67%) of the 94-incident lung cancers among Navajo men occurred in former uranium miners. The relative risk for a history of mining was 28.6 (95% confidence interval, 13.2-61.7). Smoking did not account for the strong relationship between lung cancer and uranium mining. The Navajo experience with uranium mining is a unique example of exposure in a single occupation accounting for the majority of lung cancers in an entire population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center, USA. gillilan@hsc.usc.edu
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pardilla
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Key
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014501:Uranium / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium