A Nested Case-Control Study of Leukemia and Ionizing Radiation at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
T.L. Kubale1; R.D. Daniels1; J.H. Yiin1; G.M. Kinnis1; J.R. Couch2; M.K. Schubauer-Berigan1; S.R. Silver1; S.J. Nowlin1; and P. Chen1 (1National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 2Westat Inc.)
A nested case-control study using conditional logistic regression was conducted to evaluate any exposure-response relationship between external ionizing radiation and leukemia mortality among civilian workers at the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Naval Shipyard (PNS). The study age matched 115 leukemia deaths with 420 controls selected from a cohort of 37,853 civilian workers employed at PNS between 1952 and 1992. In addition to badge doses exposures to work-related medical x-rays (WRX) were included in the analysis, and adjustment was made for solvent exposure. A significant positive association was found between leukemia mortality and level of external radiation exposure, adjusting for gender, radiation worker status, and solvent exposure duration. Solvent exposure was significantly associated with leukemia mortality adjusting for radiation dose, radiation worker status and gender.