title: Cosmic radiation and cancer mortality among airline pilots: results from a European cohort study (ESCAPE).
abstract: Cosmic radiation is an occupational risk factor for commercial aircrews. In this large European cohort study (ESCAPE) its association with cancer mortality was investigated on the basis of individual effective dose estimates for 19,184 male pilots. Mean annual doses were in the range of 2-5 mSv and cumulative lifetime doses did not exceed 80 mSv. All-cause and all-cancer mortality was low for all exposure categories. A significant negative risk trend for all-cause mortality was seen with increasing dose. Neither external and internal comparisons nor nested case-control analyses 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. Difficulties in interpreting mortality risk estimates for time-dependent exposures are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Bielefeld, P.O. Box 100 131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany. Ingo.Langner@uni-bielefeld.de
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blettner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gundestrup
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Storm
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aspholm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Auvinen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pukkala
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeeb
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hrafnkelsson
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rafnsson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tulinius
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Angelis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verdecchia
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haldorsen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tveten
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eliasch
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hammar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linnersjö
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000401:Aircraft; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003359:Cosmic Radiation / Q000009:adverse effects; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011874:Radiometry; D018570:Risk Assessment