Study Indicates Higher Cancer Risk for Airline Workers

A study conducted by researchers at Harvard University suggests that airline workers, specifically pilots and flight attendants, may face a higher risk of certain types of cancers due to exposure to cosmic radiation. The study analyzed data from nearly 13 million U.S. death certificates from 2020 to 2024, identifying 14,000 pilots and 7,000 flight attendants among the records. It found that these workers had statistically significant higher mortality rates linked to breast cancer, central nervous system cancers, prostate cancers, and melanoma. Pilots were also found to have a higher likelihood of dying from leukemia. The research indicated that 6.9% of flight attendant deaths and 6.7% of pilot deaths were associated with radiation-related cancers, which were higher than rates observed in other occupations. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on August 17, suggests that airline workers receive about 3 to 6 millisieverts of cosmic radiation annually, significantly more than the 0.4 millisieverts received by individuals taking ten round-trip cross-country flights. The findings raise questions about the need for additional cancer screenings for pilots and flight attendants. However, the study's observational nature means it cannot definitively establish a causal relationship between cosmic radiation and cancer mortality.