Shipyard workers and references

["John Williams" <JohnWi@law.com>]

Yale J Biol Med 1981 Sep-Oct;54(5):317-28 Related Articles, 





Direct estimates of low-level radiation risks of lung cancer at two 

NRC-compliant nuclear installations: why are the new risk estimates 

20 to 200 times the old official estimates?



Bross ID, Driscoll DL.



An official report on the health hazards to nuclear submarine workers 

at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), who were exposed to low-level 

ionizing radiation, was based on a casual inspection of the data and 

not on statistical analyses of the dosage-response relationships. 

When these analyses are done, serious hazards from lung cancer and 

other causes of death are shown. As a result of the recent studies on 

nuclear workers, the new risk estimates have been found to be much 

higher than the official estimates currently used in setting NRC 

permissible levels. The official BEIR estimates are about one lung 

cancer death per year per million persons per rem[s]. The PNS data 

show 189 lung cancer deaths per year per million persons per rem.



Am J Epidemiol 1986 Jun;123(6):980-92 Related Articles





A case-control study of leukemia at a naval nuclear shipyard.



Stern FB, Waxweiler RA, Beaumont JJ, Lee ST, Rinsky RA, Zumwalde RD, 

Halperin WE, Bierbaum PJ, Landrigan PJ, Murray WE Jr.



A matched case-control study was conducted of 53 leukemia deaths and 

of 212 controls within a previously studied cohort of 24,545 on-shore 

workers employed between January 1, 1952 and August 15, 1977 at the 

Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Naval Shipyard. The study sought to 

ascertain a priori whether there was an association between leukemia 

deaths and occupational exposure to either ionizing radiation or 

organic solvents. To obtain information on individual exposures, 

radiation dose histories and detailed work histories by job and shop 

were evaluated for each subject. No statistically significant 

associations were found either between ionizing radiation or presumed 

solvent exposure and myelogenous or lymphatic leukemia. However, when 

specific job categories and shops were examined without benefit of a 

priori hypotheses, two occupations, electrician and welder, were 

found to be associated with leukemia. For electricians, the Mantel-

Haenszel odds ratio (ORMH) was significantly elevated for all 

leukemias (ORMH = 3.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.29-6.98), 

particularly for lymphatic leukemia (ORMH = 6.00, 95% CI = 1.47-

24.45). For welders, the odds ratio was not significantly elevated 

for all leukemias (ORMH = 2.25, 95% CI = 0.92-5.53), but was 

significantly elevated for myeloid leukemia (ORMH = 3.83, 95% CI = 

1.28-11.46). These findings persisted when potential confounders were 

adjusted by means of a conditional logistic regression model.



Am J Epidemiol 1985 Feb;121(2):301-8 Related Articles





An investigation of bias in a study of nuclear shipyard workers.



Greenberg ER, Rosner B, Hennekens C, Rinsky R, Colton T.



The authors examined discrepant findings between a 1978 proportional 

mortality study and a 1981 cohort study of workers at the Portsmouth, 

New Hampshire, Naval Shipyard to determine whether the healthy worker 

effect, selection bias, or measurement bias could explain why only 

the proportional mortality study found excess cancer deaths among 

nuclear workers. Lower mortality from noncancer causes in nuclear 

workers (the healthy worker effect) partly accounted for the observed 

elevated cancer proportional mortality. More important, however, was 

measurement bias which occurred in the proportional mortality study 

when nuclear workers who had not died of cancer were misclassified as 

not being nuclear workers based on information from their next of 

kin, thereby creating a spurious association. Although the 

proportional mortality study was based on a small sample of all 

deaths occurring in the cohort, selection bias did not contribute 

materially to the discrepant results for total cancer deaths. With 

regard to leukemia, misclassification of occupation in the 

proportional mortality study and disagreement about cause of death 

accounted for some of the reported excess deaths.



Lancet 1981 Jan 31;1(8214):231-5 Related Articles

Cancer mortality at a Naval Nuclear Shipyard.



Rinsky RA, Zumwalde RD, Waxweiler RJ, Murray WE Jr, Bierbaum PJ, 

Landrigan PJ, Terpilak M, Cox C.



To evaluate a reported five-fold increase in leukaemia mortality 

among workers exposed to ionising radiation at Portsmouth (New 

Hampshire) Naval Shipyard (PNS), a retrospective cohort mortality 

study of all PNS civilian workers employed from 1952 to 1977 was 

done. Three subcohorts were identified: 7615 workers with radiation 

exposure of 0.001 to 91.414 rem (mean 2.779 rem, median 0.545 rem), 

15 585 non-radiation workers, and 1345 workers selected for radiation 

work who received no measurable exposures. Vital status on 96% of the 

workers was ascertained and observed mortality due to all causes, all 

malignant neoplasms, and malignant neoplasms of the lymphatic and 

haematopoietic tissues, including leukaemia, was compared with that 

expected from mortality-rates for United States White males. 

Leukaemia mortality in radiation and non-radiation workers at PNS was 

also compared. Although the study had a power of greater than 99% to 

detect statistically a five-fold increase in leukaemia mortality 

among the radiation workers, and a power of 67% to detect a two-fold 

increase, there was no excess due to leukaemia or any other cause. 

The standardised mortality ratio for leukaemia among radiation 

workers was 84 (95% confidence interval, 34--174). There was no dose-

response relation with radiation or any increased mortality in 

radiation over non-radiation workers. The study was, however, limited 

by short latency (time since first radiation); only 53% of the 

workers had less than 15 years' latency.



Lancet 1978 May 13;1(8072):1018-20 Related Articles  





Mortality from leukaemia and cancer in shipyard nuclear workers.



Najarian T, Colton T.



A review of death certificates in New Hampshire, Maine, and 

Massachusetts for 1959-77 yielded a total of 1722 deaths among former 

workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where nuclear submarines are 

repaired and refuelled. Next of kin were contacted for 592. All 

deaths under age 80 were classified as being in former nuclear or non-

nuclear workers depending on information supplied by next of kin. 

With U.S. age-specific proportional cancer mortality for White males 

as a standard, the observed/expected ratio of leukaemia deaths was 

5.62 (6 observed, 1.1 expected) among the 146 former nuclear workers. 

For all cancer deaths, this ratio was 1.78. Among non-nuclear workers 

there was no statistically significant increase in proportional 

mortality from either leukaemia or from all cancers. The excess 

proportional leukaemia and cancer mortality among nuclear workers 

exceeds predictions based on previous data of radiation effects in 

man.













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