Updated Mortality Analysis of SELTINE, the French Cohort of Nuclear Workers, 1968–2014

Abstract

Cohorts of nuclear workers are particularly relevant to study the health effects of protracted exposures to low doses at low dose-rates of ionizing radiation (IR). In France, a cohort of nuclear workers badge-monitored for external IR exposure has been followed-up for several decades. Its size and follow-up period have recently been extended. The present paper focuses on mortality from both cancer and non-cancer diseases in this cohort. The SELTINE cohort of nuclear workers employed by CEA, Orano, and EDF companies was followed-up for mortality from 1968 to 2014. Mortality in the cohort was compared to that in the French general population. Poisson regression methods were used to estimate excess relative rates of mortality per unit of cumulative dose of IR, adjusted for calendar year, age, company, duration of employment, and socioeconomic status. The cohort included 80,348 workers. At the end of the follow-up, the mean attained age was 63 years, and 15,695 deaths were observed. A strong healthy worker effect was observed overall. A significant excess of pleural cancer mortality was observed but not associated with IR dose. Death from solid cancers was positively but non-significantly associated with radiation. Death from leukaemia (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia), dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease were positively and significantly associated with IR dose. Estimated dose–risk relationships were consistent with those from other nuclear worker studies for all solid cancers and leukaemia but remained associated with large uncertainty. The association between IR dose and dementia mortality risk should be interpreted with caution and requires further investigation by other studies.

Cancer mortality after low dose exposure to ionising radiation in workers in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States (INWORKS): cohort study

“…The reasons for differences between the Mayak study and INWORKS are unclear, but in the early years of operation at the Mayak facilities many workers were highly exposed with substantial uncertainty about their internal and external radiation doses 2857. Analyses of mortality among French nuclear workers showed a positive association between estimated colon dose and solid cancer mortality (excess relative rate 0.69 (95% confidence interval −0.28 to 1.77) per Gy)58; we note that INWORKS includes a sizable fraction of this cohort. Analyses of mortality among US nuclear workers showed a positive association between cumulative dose and solid cancer mortality (excess relative rate 0.19 (95% confidence interval −0.10 to 0.52) per Gy), which was of larger magnitude among workers first hired after 196059; again, we note the overlap between this cohort and INWORKS.…”

Firefighting, per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and DNA methylation of genes associated with prostate cancer risk

“…The survey data collected as part of this study does not accommodate previous work experience, which may influence the calculation of the years of experience in some cases. Lastly, these data were collected from an occupational cohort and may be susceptible to the healthy worker effect: individuals more heavily impacted by the exposures faced on their job may have left earlier and be underrepresented in the study (Laurent et al, 2023; Wen & Tsai, 1982).…”

Noncancer Effects of Ionizing Radiation Exposure on the Eye, the Circulatory System and beyond: Developments made since the 2011 ICRP Statement on Tissue Reactions

“…For dementia, the early nested case-control study found association with radiation exposure in US female nuclear workers with OR of 2.09 (95% CI: 1.02, 4.29) for mortality (214), and then the INWORKS study found ERR/Sv of 1.30 (90% CI: 0.23, 2.72) for mortality due to mental and behavioral disorders in which dementia explained 53% deaths (121). In French male nuclear workers, ERR/Gy was -1.30 (95% CI: not estimated, 7.44) for Parkinson's disease mortality, but was 9.62 (95% CI: 3.05, 18.68) for mortality from dementia and Alzheimer's disease (215). The most recent systematic review of epidemiological literature published by November 2022 and its meta-analysis for incidence and mortality showed mERR/100 mGy of 0.11 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.18) for dementia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease in aggregate and 0.12 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.17) for Parkinson's disease (216).…”