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Wednesday, 29 June 2005 10:15

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Cancer risk to nuclear workers

Exposure to low levels of radiation has been linked to a slightly increased risk of developing cancer by the largest and most comprehensive study ever of nuclear power workers.

Some 400,000 workers from 15 countries including Britain were surveyed by the International Agency for research on Cancer (IARC).

Researchers discovered that 1 to 2 per cent of cancer deaths in the surveyed group may have been caused by exposure to low levels of radiation.

The survey is the first of its kind on the long-term effects of radiation. The last major research on the effects of radiation - carried out after the atomic bombs were dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 – only gave scientists and idea of the effects of sudden exposure.

The IARC study examined nuclear workers from a range of positions, including power plants, research and waste management.

At the end of the survey there had been 196 leukaemia deaths and 6,519 deaths from other cancers.

“Many of the subjects in this study worked in the early years of the industry when doses tended to be higher than they are today, however,” the IARC said.

“Only a small proportion of cancer deaths would therefore be expected to occur from low-dose chronic exposures to X- and gamma-radiation among current nuclear workers and in the general population.”

Peter Boyle, director of the IARC, added: “These results provide the most precise and comprehensive direct estimates of cancer risk after protracted exposure to low doses of ionising radiation.

“They strengthen the scientific basis of radiation protection standards for environmental, occupational, and medical diagnostic exposures.”

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