Cancer: Nuclear workers exposed to same radiation levels as Hiroshima

16 January 2009

More proof – if any were needed – that radiation can cause cancer comes from a new UK government report that workers in the nuclear industry are more likely to develop the disease than those in other industries.

The cancer rate among workers regularly exposed to ionising radiation is similar to that of the survivors of the Hiroshima and Negasaki A-bomb attacks in 1945, say researchers.

The workers are more likely to develop cancers such as leukaemia, the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) has reported in a new study.

The HPA has, since 1976, been tracking the health of around 175,000 workers exposed to radiation in workplaces around the UK.

(Source: British Journal of Cancer, 2009; 100: 206-12).

Cancer: Nuclear workers exposed to same radiation levels as Hiroshima

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