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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on February 10, 2009
American Journal of Epidemiology 2009 169(6):718-730; doi:10.1093/aje/kwn406
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American Journal of Epidemiology Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2009.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Radon Exposure and Mortality Among White and American Indian Uranium Miners: An Update of the Colorado Plateau Cohort

Mary K. Schubauer-Berigan, Robert D. Daniels and Lynne E. Pinkerton

Correspondence to Dr. Mary K. Schubauer-Berigan, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Mail Stop R15, Cincinnati, OH 45226 (e-mail: zcg3{at}cdc.gov).

Received for publication August 25, 2008. Accepted for publication December 8, 2008.

Studies of uranium miners on the US Colorado Plateau have identified associations between exposure to radon progeny and risk of lung cancer. This study added 15 years of mortality follow-up for the 4,137 miners (primarily white or American Indian) in the Colorado Plateau cohort. The cohort experienced 209 new lung cancer deaths. For white miners, the standardized mortality ratio for lung cancer compared with the regional population was 3.99 (95% confidence interval: 3.43, 4.62) for the period 1991–2005. For American Indian miners, the lung cancer standardized mortality ratio was 3.27 (95% confidence interval: 2.19, 4.73). These standardized mortality ratios have not declined substantially since the 1980s. Internally standardized rate ratios by radon exposure category over the entire follow-up period are similar to those based on earlier follow-up, although estimates within smoking categories demonstrated improved precision. The apparent interaction between radon and smoking in causing lung cancer remains submultiplicative but greater than additive. Mortality rates from silicosis remain highly elevated in the cohort. Elevated mortality rates were observed from interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Significant trends were observed with increased radon exposure in silicosis and pulmonary fibrosis mortality and in the incidence of diabetes-related end-stage renal disease among white miners.

lung neoplasms; lymphoma, non-Hodgkin; multiple myeloma; pulmonary fibrosis; radiation, ionizing; silicosis

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; WLM, working level months


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