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Non-cancer mortality among workers at British Nuclear Fuels

A new paper published in the International Journal of Epidemiology [1] examines mortality from causes other than cancer among workers at British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL). The study demonstrates a 'healthy worker effect': overall mortality among both radiation workers and non-radiation workers at BNFL was lower than would be expected from rates for the general population of north-west England. Among male radiation workers, mortality from diseases of the circulatory system increased with increasing levels of external radiation exposure, although the form of this statistical association varied between groups of workers. The extent to which the association might be explained by non-radiation causes of circulatory disease deserves further attention. The Health Protection Agency will continue to monitor findings from studies of radiation exposure and health, including the risk of circulatory diseases, and advise on the possible implications for radiation protection.

Studies of people exposed to high radiation doses, such as the Japanese atomic bomb survivors [2] and patients given radiotherapy for breast cancer [3] , have shown raised mortality from non-cancer diseases; in particular, diseases of the circulatory system such as heart disease and stroke. It is not clear whether the risk of these diseases is also increased following exposure to lower doses of ionising radiation [4]. The new paper by McGeoghegan et al examines this issue.

Further information on this and related studies

1.  McGeoghegan D et al. The non-cancer mortality experience of male workers at British Nuclear Fuels plc, 1946-2005. International Journal of Epidemiology (2008). Available at http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/dyn018v1

2.  Preston DL et al. Studies of mortality of atomic bomb survivors. Report 13: Solid cancer and noncancer disease mortality: 1950-1997. Radiation Research;160: 381-407 (2003).

3.  Taylor CW et al . Cardiac risks of breast-cancer radiotherapy: a contemporary view. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol);18:, 236-246 (2006).

4.  McGale P, Darby SC. Low doses of ionizing radiation and circulatory diseases: a systematic review of the published epidemiological evidence. Radiation Research;163: 247-257 (2005).


Last reviewed: 28 May 2008