An Update of Epidemiologic Studies of Plutonium Workers

Abstract

Retrospective and prospective epidemiologic studies are being conducted as part of a national survey of plutonium workprs at.follr (le~artment of Energy faciliti~s (Los Alamr)s, NM: Rocky Flats, CO; Wound Laboratory, OH; and Savannah Riv~r, SC). A prelirrinary analysis of mcrtality was di:n~f or all~llli~e maIFS who have workw; at l.hc' ROCkY Flats Plant during th~period 1952 to 1979. The 452 observed depths were significantly fwer than tbc 1131exp~cted for all causes. The 107 draths cllie tc aii n~~ligrlantnroplasnls w~r~also si~nificantly m~lrs. Draths rrrnt.t('rt for benign and unsprcifird n[wplarms nlmlb~rcd iqht vrrslls an cxp~ct[l(! two, n significant olcvrltion. TbPsr tumors, r~pnrtc~l Iatpr. Sllt)(livi(iit)q thr (:rltlort on thr Ilasis of plutonium f'indinqs. llIr Ilrni(ln dfldItfl:,p('ril'i('ll n('r~pldc.ms, Il(w'('v(')", kJIIrYI not sir]nifir{lnl, lmyhiqh irlttl(') ltll(lli lllll-~'~l)[)!.('(1 (It.rlll).

Chemical exposures and central nervous system cancers: A case‐control study among workers at two nuclear facilities

“…Results of a few epidemiologic studies have suggested that occupational exposures within the petrochemical industry [ThCriault and Goulet, 1979;Thomas et al, 1982;Waxweiler et al, 19831, vinyl chloride industry [Monson et al, 1974;Waxweiler et al, 19761, and nuclear industry [Voelz et al, 1983;Hadjimichael et al, 1983;Acquavella et al, 19851 increase the risk of developing central nervous system (CNS) cancers. However, other studies have failed to demonstrate such increased risk [Fox and Collier, 1977;Gilbert and Marks, 1979;Rushton and Alderson, 1981;ThCriault and Allard, 1981;Wen et al, 1983;Austin andSchnatter, 1983a and1983b;Reyes et al, 1984;Hanis et al, 1985;Beral et al, 19851. This epidemiologic investigation was a case-control study nested among workcrs employed between 1943 and 1977 at two nuclear facilities located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.…”

Smoking and Hormesis as Confounding Factors in Radiation Pulmonary Carcinogenesis

“…Only by using restrictive regression analyses could an increased lung cancer rate be shown (Brown et al 2004). Other studies showed a PROFAC for lung cancer mortality in plutonium workers at the Rocky Flats Plant of 0.86 (one observed, seven expected) (Tietjen 1987), and Voelz et al (1983) found a PROFAC 0.80 for lung cancer in these plutonium workers. Manhattan Project plutonium workers had a median internal dose of 1.25 Sv and in all causes of death a PROFAC of 0.57 compared to the general population; their PROFAC for lung cancer was 0.32 (Voelz et al 1997).…”

Historical Exposures to Chemicals at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant: A Pilot Retrospective Exposure Assessment

“…The original study (Voelz et al, 1983) extracted the job histories of 25 percent of the cohort. Although no computer file containing that information was located, a printed version was.…”

“…The initial cohort study (Voelz et aL, 1983) , 1987). Within the plutonium-exposed group, possible excesses for esophageal, stomach, colon, and prostate cancers were 11 also present at certain induction times.…”