title: An update of cancer mortality among the French cohort of uranium miners: extended follow-up and new source of data for causes of death.
abstract: The follow-up of the French cohort of uranium miners has been extended to 1994, and a new source of information for causes of death has been used. The paper presents the new results regarding the risk of death among the cohort, and analyses the impact of the methodological changes on these results. The extension of the follow-up results in a substantial increase in statistical power compared with previous analysis (+25% for person-years and +74% for the number of deaths). The use of the National Mortality Database as the principal source for causes of death allows to reduce the potential bias in the calculation of standardized mortality ratios (SMR). As a consequence, an excess risk of deaths from laryngeal cancer, suggested in the first analysis, is not confirmed. The analysis shows the existence of an excess risk of deaths from lung cancer among French uranium miners (85 observed deaths, SMR = 1.9, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.5-2.3), and an increase of this risk with cumulative exposure to radon (excess relative risk per 100 working level month = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.1-1.2). These results confirm the existence of a risk of death from lung cancer in a population chronically exposed to relatively low levels of radon.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), Fontenay aux Roses, France. dominique.laurier@irsn.fr
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Laurier
authors.forename: Margot
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tirmarche
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitton
authors.forename: Madeleine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valenty
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poveda
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gelas
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Quesne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000401:mortality*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014501:Uranium / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium