Health Physics

Our medical research library holds 6 studies published in Health Physics (1998–2019). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 5 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

About the journal

• Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Published: 1958 to the present, United States
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0017-9078 (print), 1538-5159 (electronic)
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• A Monte Carlo t Test to Evaluate Mesothelioma and Radiation in the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries. J.Y. Zhou, S.L. McComish, S.Y. Tolmachev. 2019;117(2):187-192. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A cluster of nine mesothelioma cases was observed among 341 registrants' deaths in the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries. Descriptive analysis showed that mesothelioma cases had the highest average cumulative external radiation dose compared with lung cancer, other cancer, and noncancer deaths. Further analysis indicated that the mesothelioma cluster was very different demographically from lung cancer, other cancer, and noncancer deaths. Therefore, an internally matched case-control approach was applied to evaluate the differences in an average cumulative external radiation dose between mesothelioma deaths and other causes of death. A Monte Carlo t test was used to examine the statistical significance of the differences. The results showed that there were no significant statistical differences in an average cumulative external radiation dose between mesothelioma and lung cancer, other cancers, or noncancers for the internally matched cases and controls.

• USTUR Special Session Roundtable-US Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR): A Five-decade Follow-up of Plutonium and Uranium Workers. S.Y. Tolmachev, M.J. Swint, R.W. Bistline, et al. 2019;117(2):211-222. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The US Transuranium and Uranium Registries is a human tissue program that collects tissues posthumously from former nuclear workers and radiochemically analyzes them for actinides such as plutonium, americium, and uranium. It was established in 1968 with the goal of advancing science and improving the safety of future workers. Roundtable participants recalled various aspects of this multidisciplinary research program, from establishing consistent autopsy protocols to comparing the registries' findings to those of other programs, such as the historical beagle dog studies and the Russian Radiobiological Human Tissue Repository. The importance of meeting ethical and legal requirements, including written consent forms, was emphasized, as was the need to know whether workers were exposed to nonradiological hazards such as beryllium or asbestos. At Rocky Flats, a bioassay program was established to follow workers after they terminated employment. The resulting data continue to help researchers to improve the biokinetic models that are used to estimate intakes and radiation doses. After 50 y, the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries continues to contribute to our understanding of actinides in humans, which is a testament to the vision of its founders, the generosity of its tissue donors, and the many dedicated scientists who have worked together to achieve a common goal.

2000s

• Errors and blunders in the estimation of radiation exposure for the uranium miners of WISMUT in Germany. G.G. Eigenwillig. 2006;91(4):390-1; author reply 392. Letter · Comment PubMed · Publisher

• Lung cancer risk among former uranium miners of the WISMUT Company in Germany. I. Brüske-Hohlfeld, A.S. Rosario, G. Wölke, et al. 2006;90(3):208-16. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Unlabelled: After 1946, the WISMUT Company developed the third-largest uranium-mining province in the world in the German Democratic Republic.

  Methods: A case-control study among former WISMUT miners was conducted to investigate the lung cancer risk in relation to attained age, time since exposure, exposure duration, and exposure rate. It consisted of 505 patients with lung cancer and 1,073 controls matched to cases according to the year of birth. The cumulative exposure to radon and radon decay products was calculated as the sum of yearly exposures and expressed in Working Level Months (WLM). Cases had a mean cumulative exposure of 552 WLM compared to 420 WLM in controls.

  Results: There was a statistically significant increase in lung cancer risk for cumulative exposures above 800 WLM. Under the assumption of a linear risk model, there was a significant increase in the relative risk of 0.10 per 100 WLM after adjusting for smoking and asbestos exposure. For current smokers the increase in relative risk was lower (0.05 per 100 WLM), whereas it was higher (0.20 per 100 WLM) among nonsmokers and longtime ex-smokers. After correcting in a sensitivity analysis for the fact that the controls of this study had a higher average exposure than the population of WISMUT workers they were recruited from, the adjusted ERR increased to 0.24 per 100 WLM. Lung cancer risk declined with time since exposure, except for exposures received 45 or more years ago. No inverse dose rate effect was observed.

• Increased lung cancer risk due to residential radon in a pooled and extended analysis of studies in Germany. H.E. Wichmann, A.S. Rosario, I.M. Heid, et al. 2005;88(1):71-9. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Residential radon has been shown to be a risk factor for lung cancer in several studies-but with limited power in each single study. The data of two case-control studies performed during 1990-1997 in Germany and used for previous publications have been extended and pooled. Both studies have identical study designs. In total, data of 2,963 incident lung cancer cases and 4,232 population controls are analyzed here. One-year radon measurements were performed in houses occupied during the 5-35 y prior to the interview. Conditional logistic and linear relative risk regression was used for the analysis. Measurements covered on average 70% of the exposure time window, with an average radon exposure of 61 Bq m(-3). The smoking and asbestos-adjusted ORs were 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85 to 1.11] for 50-80 Bq m(-3), 1.06 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.30) for 80-140 Bq m(-3) and 1.40 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.89) for radon concentrations above 140 Bq m(-3), compared to the reference category <50 Bq m(-3). The linear increase in the odds ratio per 100 Bq m(-3) was 0.10 (95% CI -0.02 to 0.30) for all subjects and 0.14 (95% CI -0.03 to 0.55) for less mobile subjects who lived in only one home in the last 5-35 y. The risk coefficients generally were higher when measurement error in the radon concentrations was reduced by restricting the population. With respect to histopathology, the risk for small cell carcinoma was higher than for other subtypes. This analysis strengthens the evidence that residential radon is a relevant risk factor for lung cancer.

1990s

• Causes of death in a cohort of 260 plutonium workers. B. Gold, R.L. Kathren. 1998;75(3):236-40. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  The United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR) is a unique postmortem research study of the biokinetics, dosimetry, and possible biological effects of actinide elements in persons with occupational exposure to these radioelements. Evaluation of the causes of death in the admittedly biased self-selected cohort of the first 260 deceased participants in the USTUR revealed, in general, no apparently elevated causes of death except for six cases of mesothelioma and six cases of astrocytoma glioblastoma multiforme. The mesothelioma cases had a documented occupational exposure to asbestos, and the six brain tumor deaths all occurred at a single work site and were not radiation related but rather are likely attributable to a factor specific to the work site or surrounding area. Incidental findings in this cohort did not suggest any radiation related illness or cause of death.

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