Mortality from diseases other than cancer following low doses of ionizing radiation: results from the 15-Country Study of nuclear industry workers

Background Ionizing radiation at very high (radio-therapeutic) dose levels can cause diseases other than cancer, particularly heart diseases. There is increasing evidence that doses of the order of a few sievert (Sv) may also increase the risk of non-cancer diseases. It is not known, however, whether such effects also occur following the lower doses and dose rates of public health concern. Methods We used data from an international (15-country) nuclear workers cohort study to evaluate whether mortality from diseases other than cancer is related to low doses of external ionizing radiation. Analyses included 275 312 workers with adequate information on socioeconomic status, over 4 million person-years of follow-up and an average cumulative radiation dose of 20.7 mSv; 11 255 workers had died of non-cancer diseases. Results The excess relative risk (ERR) per Sv was 0.24 [95% CI (confidence intervals) −0.23, 0.78] for mortality from all non-cancer diseases and 0.09 (95% CI −0.43, 0.70) for circulatory diseases. Higher risk estimates were observed for mortality from respiratory and digestive diseases, but confidence intervals included zero. Increased risks were observed among the younger workers (attained age