title: Mortality (1968-2008) in a French cohort of uranium enrichment workers potentially exposed to rapidly soluble uranium compounds.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Until recently, enrichment of uranium for civil and military purposes in France was carried out by gaseous diffusion using rapidly soluble uranium compounds. We analysed the relationship between exposure to soluble uranium compounds and exposure to external γ-radiation and mortality in a cohort of 4688 French uranium enrichment workers who were employed between 1964 and 2006.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on individual annual exposure to radiological and non-radiological hazards were collected for workers of the AREVA NC, CEA and Eurodif uranium enrichment plants from job-exposure matrixes and external dosimetry records, differentiating between natural, enriched and depleted uranium. Cause-specific mortality was compared with the French general population via standardised mortality ratios (SMR), and was analysed via Poisson regression using log-linear and linear excess relative risk models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over the period of follow-up, 131 161 person-years at risk were accrued and 21% of the subjects had died. A strong healthy worker effect was observed: all causes SMR=0.69, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.74. SMR for pleural cancer was significantly increased (2.3, 95% CI 1.06 to 4.4), but was only based on nine cases. Internal uranium and external γ-radiation exposures were not significantly associated with any cause of mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study of French uranium enrichment workers. Although limited in statistical power, further follow-up of this cohort, estimation of internal uranium doses and pooling with similar cohorts should elucidate potential risks associated with exposure to soluble uranium compounds.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-HOM/SRBE/LEPID, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhivin
authors.affiliation: Département Santé-Travail, Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS), Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guseva Canu
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-HOM/SRBE/LEPID, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-HOM/SRBE/LEPID, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grellier
authors.affiliation: AREVA NC, Service Santé-Travail, Pierrelatte, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Collomb
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Zablotska
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-HOM/SRBE/LEPID, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Laurier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D005720:Gamma Rays / Q000009:adverse effects; D015989:Healthy Worker Effect; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009790:Occupations; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D012995:Solubility; D014501:Uranium / Q000009:adverse effects; D017974:Uranium Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017974:Uranium Compounds; D014501:Uranium
keywords: cohort study; enrichment; mortality; solubility; uranium