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Re: "Healthy Worker Effect"




     
To add a little historical note to Otto Raabe's excellent explanation: when the 
first studies of Hanford and Manhattan Project workers' health were published 
(in the early 1960s), and consistently showed no increase in cancers over 
expected incidence, it was argued (especially in the Manhattan Project case) 
that these individuals were better educated and had essentially better 
socioeconomic status than the average U. S. blue collar worker, knew better how 
to protect themselves against excessive exposure, and were generally healthier 
as a consequence.  This was essentially true, However, I think the so-called 
"healthy worker effect" is now being overused.  With the accumulation of data, 
we can start to say that the exposure is below a threshold rather than invoking 
a "healthy worker effect."

clearly my oown opinion and no one else's.

Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
Transportation Systems Department
Sandia National Laboratories
Mail Stop 0718
P. O. Box 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
505-844-4791
505-844-0244 (fax)
rfweine@sandia.gov


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: "Healthy Worker Effect"
Author:  ograabe@ucdavis.edu at hubsmtp
Date:    1/30/98 11:27 AM


January 30, 1998
Davis, CA
     
If you are looking for radiation effects in radiation workers, and they 
consistently have a lower rate of various diseases than the average person 
(or even similar workers in other fields, such as in the Rocketdyne study), 
then either you can conclude that a little radiation exposure is beneficial 
or that there is some selection process that results in "healthier" people 
among radiation workers. The idea is that "radiation workers" are selected 
and stay in this work because they are in good health and, further, as a 
rule they have good health care as an employee benefit. Hence, the people 
called "radiation workers" tend to have lower incidence of various 
diseases. This could occur with lower usage of tobacco and alcohol, better 
medical care, and better diet than the AVERAGE person in the population. 
This is called the "healthy worker effect" among epidemiologists. 
Apparently, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors also display the "healthy 
worker effect." In that case, it is assumed that the more "sensitive" 
persons were less likely to survive the acute biological effects of an 
atomic bomb. .....Or maybe a little radiation is beneficial....
     
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: 530-752-7754  FAX: 530-758-6140 [NEW AREA CODE] 
          E-mail ograabe@ucdavis.edu