No evidence for an increase in circulatory disease mortality in astronauts following space radiation exposures.
Previous analysis has shown that astronauts have a significantly lower standardized mortality ratio for circulatory disease mortality compared to the U.S. population, which is consistent with the rigorous selection process and healthy lifestyles of astronauts, and modest space radiation exposures from past space missions. However, a recent report by Delp et al. estimated the proportional mortality ratio for ages of 55-64 y of Apollo lunar mission astronauts to claim a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to space radiation compared to the U.S. population or to non-flight astronauts. In this Commentary we discuss important deficiencies in the methods and assumptions on radiation exposures used by Delp et al. that we judge cast serious doubt on their conclusions.
Department of Diagnostic Sciences and Health Physics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Box 453037, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3037, USA. Electronic address: francis.cucinotta@unlv.edu.
Francis A
FA
Cucinotta
Radiation Safety Research Center, Nuclear Technology Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), 2-11-1 Iwado-kita, Komae, Tokyo 201-8511, Japan.
Nobuyuki
N
Hamada
Radiation Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, HHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA.
Mark P
MP
Little
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018480:Astronauts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D003359:Cosmic Radiation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011379:Prognosis; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013026:Space Flight; D015996:Survival Rate
Apollo missions; Astronauts; Cardiovascular disease; Circulatory disease; Galactic cosmic rays; Healthy worker effects; Space radiation