Harvard Study Finds U.S. Aircrew Top 500 Jobs in Radiation-Cancer Death Risk

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 18

Nearly 13 million U.S. death certificates from 2020-2024 showed flight attendants and pilots had the highest radiation-related cancer death risk among more than 500 occupations.
6.9% of flight attendant deaths and 6.7% of pilot deaths were tied to radiation-related cancers, with significantly higher mortality from breast, central nervous system, prostate and skin cancers; pilots also showed higher leukemia deaths.
3 to 6 millisieverts of cosmic radiation hit airline workers each year, versus 0.4 millisieverts for someone taking 10 round-trip cross-country flights, supporting researchers' view that cumulative high-altitude exposure is the likely driver.
Jena said the findings put earlier or more frequent cancer screening for pilots and flight attendants "on the table," while stressing typical passengers are unlikely to log comparable exposure.
Because the JAMA Internal Medicine study was observational and lacked individual exposure data, it shows an association rather than proving cosmic radiation caused the elevated mortality.