Re: Rocketdyne Radiation Study

[Randall_F_Brich@RL.gov]

     Would anyone happen to know who at UCLA funded the subject study and 
     whether federal or other public resources were involved?  Sounds like 
     WFA to me; but, then again I could be wrong. 
     
     Randy Brich, USDOE, Richland


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Rocketdyne Radiation Study
Author:  "Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu> at -MailLink
Date:    9/12/97 1:08 PM


September 12, 1997
Davis, CA
     
Dear RadSafers:
     
You will soon be hearing more in the news about a new report out of UCLA 
entitled: "Epidemiologic Study to Determine Possible Adverse Effects to 
Rocketdyne/Atomics International Workers from Exposure to Ionizing 
Radiation" by H. Morgenstern et al., UCLA School of Public Health. It 
claims to show "that occupational exposure to ionizing radiation among 
nuclear workers at Rocketdyne/AI has increased the risk of dying from 
cancer of the blood and lymph systems." It also claims that other types of 
cancer such as lung cancer and cancers of the "upper-aerodigestive tract" 
are indicated to be caused by low level exposures to ionizing radiation 
above 10 mSv. 
     
Among the list of the "Advisory Panel" are some well known anti-nuclear 
types including Dan Hirsch (Committee to Bridge the Gap), Alice Stewart, 
Robert Goble, and Greg Wilkinson.
     
The most important finding has been discarded by the authors. That finding 
is that "...THE MORTALITY RATES FOR ALL CAUSES...WERE LOWER FOR MONITORED 
ROCKETDYNE/AI WORKERS THAN FOR EITHER THE GENERAL U.S. POPULATION OR THE 
NIOSH POPULATION OF OTHER WORKER COHORTS." They attribute this to 
Rocketdyne workers being healthier than the general population. This is the 
so-called "healthy worker effect" which is a common finding in studies of 
nuclear workers. In general, people who have worked in the nuclear field 
anywhere in the U.S. have not had higher death rates from any causes than 
the general U.S. worker, and often show lower death rates from cancer, as 
in the Rocketdyne study.
     
In the Rocketdyne study there is no actual control for confounding causes 
of mortality such as smoking and alcohol consumption, although they claim a 
subset of the study group for which smoking patterns were known did not 
suggest that there were more smokers in the exposed group. This possibility 
was not disproved, however. Overall, the statistical power of this study is 
weak.
     
The cancers that they pull out of the data as showing radiation trends are 
very selective. The "upper-aerodigestive tract" cancer association with 
radiation exposure suggests a random observation since that strange 
grouping of cancers is not know to be a mark of radiation exposure. It is a 
mark of tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and excessive consumption of 
spicy food. None of these possibilities can be ruled out by this study. In 
addition, they do not appear to have shown a dose-response relationship for 
those effects they attribute to radiation exposure. 
     
We should wonder why they did not report those cancers whose occurrence was 
much lower in the "exposed" workers, if any.
     
This is a weak study that will no-doubt produce a lot of press. 
     
Otto
     
     
		***************************************************** 
		Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
                [President, Health Physics Society, 1997-1998]
		Institute of Toxicology & Environmental Health (ITEH) 
		     (Street address: Old Davis Road)
		University of California, Davis, CA 95616 
		Phone: 916-752-7754     FAX: 916-758-6140 
		E-Mail: ograabe@ucdavis.edu
		******************************************************
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From: "Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu>
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Subject: Rocketdyne Radiation Study
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