[ RadSafe ] Low dose paper provides strong evidence of positive associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposure and leukaemia.

[Egidi, Philip]

Don't shoot - I just pass 'em along....

The Lancet Haematology
Available online 21 June 2015
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352302615000940 

http://www.nature.com/news/researchers-pin-down-risks-of-low-dose-radiation-1.17876

Summary
Background

There is much uncertainty about the risks of leukaemia and lymphoma after repeated or protracted low-dose radiation exposure typical of occupational, environmental, and diagnostic medical settings. We quantified associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposures and leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma mortality among radiation-monitored adults employed in France, the UK, and the USA.

Methods

We assembled a cohort of 308 297 radiation-monitored workers employed for at least 1 year by the Atomic Energy Commission, AREVA Nuclear Cycle, or the National Electricity Company in France, the Departments of Energy and Defence in the USA, and nuclear industry employers included in the National Registry for Radiation Workers in the UK. The cohort was followed up for a total of 8·22 million person-years. We ascertained deaths caused by leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. We used Poisson regression to quantify associations between estimated red bone marrow absorbed dose and leukaemia and lymphoma mortality.

Findings

Doses were accrued at very low rates (mean 1·1 mGy per year, SD 2·6). The excess relative risk of leukaemia mortality (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia) was 2·96 per Gy (90% CI 1·17–5·21; lagged 2 years), most notably because of an association between radiation dose and mortality from chronic myeloid leukaemia (excess relative risk per Gy 10·45, 90% CI 4·48–19·65).

Interpretation

This study provides strong evidence of positive associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposure and leukaemia.

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PVE
Philip Egidi
Environmental Scientist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Radiation Protection Division
Washington, DC
(202) 343-9186 (work)
(970) 209-2885 (Cell)

“The health of the people is the highest law.”
Cicero (106 - 43 BC)