Abstract
A previous analysis of the radon-related lung cancer mortality risk, in the German uranium miners cohort, using Poisson modeling techniques, noted internal (spontaneous) rates that were higher on average than the external rates by 16.5% (95% CI: 9%; 24%). The main purpose of the present paper is to investigate the nature of, and possible reasons for, this difference by comparing patterns in spontaneous lung cancer mortality rates in a cohort of male miners involved in uranium extraction at the former Wismut mining company in East Germany with national male rates from the former German Democratic Republic. The analysis is based on miner data for 3,001 lung cancer deaths, 1.76 million person-years for the period 1960–2003, and national rates covering the same calendar-year range. Simple “age–period–cohort” graphical analyses were applied to assess the main qualitative differences between the national and cohort baseline lung cancer rates. Some differences were found to occur mainly at higher attained ages above 70 years. Although many occupational risk factors may have contributed to these observed age differences, only the effects of smoking have been assessed here by applying the Peto–Lopez indirect method for calculating smoking attributability. It is inferred that the observed age differences could be due to the greater prevalence of smoking and more mature smoking epidemic in the Wismut cohort compared to the general population of the former German Democratic Republic. In view of these observed differences between external population-based rates and internal (spontaneous) cohort baseline lung cancer rates, it is strongly recommended to apply only the internal rates in future analyses of uranium miner cohorts.
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Notes
One WLM of cumulative exposure corresponds to exposure to 1 WL during one month (170 h) and is equivalent to 3.5 mJh/m3.
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Acknowledgments
The German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has issued a special approval for this research, which constitutes an exemption from the necessity to obtain human subjects approvals. This work was partially funded by the EU Alpha-Risk project and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany (Competence Network Radiation Research). The authors thank the German Federation of Institutions for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention (DGUV) and the Miners’ Occupational Compensation Board (Bergbau Berufsgenossenschaft) for their continuous support over many years. The field work for the follow-up was conducted by I + G Gesundheitsforschung and Mediveritas GmbH. Their commitment helped to achieve the low percentage of lost to follow-up. We also thank the members of the Wismut Working Group of the German Radiation Protection Commission for their continued advice. Special thanks are due to Prof. Werner Rühm for a valuable initial discussion and some very helpful suggestions.
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Walsh, L., Dufey, F., Möhner, M. et al. Differences in baseline lung cancer mortality between the German uranium miners cohort and the population of the former German Democratic Republic (1960–2003). Radiat Environ Biophys 50, 57–66 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-010-0332-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-010-0332-y