CHAPEL HILL, N.C., June 17 (UPI) -- Workers over 55 exposed to radiation at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., had a greater risk for developing cancer, particularly lung cancer.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers evaluated radiation risks by using measurements of workers' radiation exposures recorded on radiation-sensitive badges worn on the job. Researchers identified 8,153 deaths -- including 2,265 from cancer -- among 26,389 workers hired between 1944 and 1978 and followed through 1994.
A study, published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found cancer death rates increased, on average, about 3 percent for every additional rem -- a unit of radiation dose -- received at ages 55 and above, said Dr. Steven Wing.
"For lung cancer, the increase was about 9 percent per rem," he said.
U.S. workers are permitted to receive up to 5 rem per year -- 15 times more than average annual background radiation.
The Hanford Site produced plutonium for atomic weapons, including the first plutonium bombs dropped during World War II.
