Study Finds Elevated Asbestos Cancer Risk for Workers at DOE Nuclear Sites
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009By Wade Rawlins
A new study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites found the workers have a higher risk of having asbestos-related disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of Cincinnati and other institutions, found that trades workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina or the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers.
The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. The research was funded by the Department of Energy.
The study tracked the mortality of 8,976 construction workers at nuclear weapons facilities who had participated in voluntary medical screening programs from 1998 through 2004. The workers were predominantly white and nearly all male. Researchers identified 674 deaths among the overall group —slightly less than expected—but noted a significantly higher death rate among those identified as asbestos workers and insulators. The incidence of cancer was elevated at all four sites with the highest rates at Savannah River.
Researchers reported an excess of cancer deaths including mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos exposure and also malignant tumors of the lung, trachea and bronchus. The mortality rate for mestothelioma was nearly six times the standardized rate, and for workers who first began at the DOE sites before 1960, the mortality rate was nearly 11 times what would be expected in the general population. Meanwhile, the incident of asbestosis was more than 30 times the standardized rate. High risks of asbestosis were observed at all sites except Amchitka.
Researchers attributed the excess risk for mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis to significant past exposure to asbestos, a material widely used in construction and for insulation until the 1970s. They noted the elevated risk of mesothelioma and asbestosis was confined to workers first employed at the sites prior to 1980, when use of asbestos would have been more prevalent.
In 1993, Congress directed the Department of Energy to determine whether workers at its nuclear weapons facilities were at significant risk of work-related illness. Construction workers at the facilities have potential exposure to a number of hazards during construction, maintenance and renovation including asbestos, silica, solvents and metals.
In 1996 and 1997, the department established medical surveillance programs at Hanford Reservation, Oak Ridge, Savannah River and Amchitka. Since then, medical screening programs at a number of sites have been consolidated under the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program. A consortium of medical staff and researchers from the Center for Construction Research and Training in Silver Spring, Maryland, the University of Cincinnati and Duke University are conducting the medical screening programs for the workers.
The researchers said a drawback of the research was the narrow tracking window of the study, resulting in only 674 total deaths between 1998 and 2004. That limited the ability to do statistically significant breakdowns of cancers within specific trades. It also confined the researchers ability to interpret the risks of mesothelioma and asbestosis among workers employed in 1980 or later.
The researchers recommended expanding the study to include medical screening data for workers at other Department of Energy sites and to do a later follow-up study of this group.
