Pilots and flight attendants experience higher death rates from cancers linked to radiation exposure than any other occupation, according to an analysis by Vishal R. Patel, Christopher Worsham, and Anupam B. Jena. The study found that air crew had the highest and second-highest proportions of deaths from radiation-related cancers among 503 occupations examined.
The research, which accounted for factors like age and sex, determined that 6.9% of flight attendant deaths and 6.7% of pilot deaths were due to radiation-associated cancers. This rate was higher than that observed among nuclear technologists, another group frequently exposed to radiation.
In contrast, for cancers not typically caused by radiation, such as colon cancer, air crew members showed rates closer to the average. The study also noted that ground-based aviation workers, like aircraft mechanics and assemblers, did not exhibit elevated cancer rates, supporting the hypothesis that the increased risk is specifically tied to factors associated with flying.
The analysis's logic was based on the expectation that if cosmic radiation were the primary cause of increased cancer rates among air crew, the elevated risk would be concentrated in specific cancer types known to be caused by radiation—such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, and certain forms of leukemia. The findings align with this prediction, showing a distinct pattern that differentiates radiation-related cancers from other types.