Incidence of Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Multiple Myeloma in Czech Uranium Miners: A Case-Cohort Study

Objective: Uranium miners are chronically exposed to low levels of radon and its progeny. We investigated whether radon exposure is associated with increased incidence of leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma in this population. Design: We conducted a retrospective case-cohort study in 23,043 uran...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 2006-06, Vol.114 (6), p.818-822
Main Authors: Řeřicha, Vladimír, Kulich, Michal, Řeřicha, Robert, Shore, David L., Sandier, Dale P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Cancer
Case-Control Studies
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Czech Republic - epidemiology
Death certificates
Humans
Incidence
Ionizing radiation
Leukemia
Leukemia - epidemiology
Lymphoma
Lymphoma - epidemiology
Lymphomas
Mining
Mortality
Multiple Myeloma - epidemiology
Oncology, Experimental
Radiation dosage
Radon
Retrospective Studies
Uranium
Uranium - toxicity
Uranium industry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: Uranium miners are chronically exposed to low levels of radon and its progeny. We investigated whether radon exposure is associated with increased incidence of leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma in this population. Design: We conducted a retrospective case-cohort study in 23,043 uranium miners and identified a total of 177 incident cases of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Detailed information on occupational radon exposure was obtained for the cases and a randomly selected subcohort of 2,393 subjects. We used the proportional hazards model with power relative risk (RR) function to estimate and test the effects of cumulative radon exposures on incidence rates. Results: Incidence of all leukemia combined and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) alone was positively associated with cumulative radon exposure. The RR comparing high radon exposure [110 working level months (WLM); 80th percentile] to low radon exposure (3 WLM; 20th percentile) was 1.75 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.10-2.78; p = 0.014] for all leukemia combined and 1.98 (95% CI, 1.10-3.59; p = 0.016) for CLL. Myeloid leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma were also associated with radon, but RRs were not statistically significant. There was no apparent association of radon with either non-Hodgkin lymphoma or multiple myeloma. Exposure to radon and its progeny was associated with an increased risk of developing leukemia in underground uranium miners. CLL, not previously believed to be radiogenic, was linked to radon exposure.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.8476