Industry Workers of Russia and Great Britain

Abstract

Purpose: The estimation of the radiation risk of leukemia incidence and mortality for occupational exposure.
 Material and methods: The study was conducted in the pooled cohort comprised 45,817 workers from the two enterprises; 23,443 radiation workers first employed in 1947–2002 from the Sellafield plant (Great Britain) and 22,774 workers from the Mayak PA (Russia) first employed at the main plants in 1948–1982. The period of follow-up was terminated at the end of 2008 for Mayak workers who were Ozyorsk city residents, and at the end of 2005 for Sellafield workers and Mayak workers who had migrated from Ozyorsk.
 Results: Comparable radiation risk estimates of leukemia incidence and mortality were found among Mayak PA and Sellafield workers as for the whole dose range and separate dose intervals. Averaged by attained age estimate of excess relative risk per 1 Gy of external gamma-dose was 3.0 (95 % CI: 1.3–6.3) under the assumption of the linear dose–effect model. The quadratic model with attained age modification showed the best quality of fit. Risk estimates were statistically significant in the dose range 0.15–1.5 Gy. There was no evidence of any relationship between leukemia risks and accumulated red bone marrow dose of internal alpha-exposure due to incorporated Pu-239.
 Conclusion: Preliminary analysis of the pooled cohort data has demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of a research project looking at leukemia risks in a joint cohort of Mayak and Sellafield workers. The current study provides further evidence about the already well established link between external-gamma exposure and leukemia risk. However, it fails to provide any firm further evidence about the absence or presence of relationship between plutonium exposure and leukemia risk.