Working as a flight attendant significantly increases your risk of a range of cancers compared to the general population, a major study of cabin crew found.
Researchers followed more than 5,000 crew and found that their risk of breast cancer increased more than 50 percent, while risks of stomach cancers are raised by as much as 74 percent, independent.co.uk reported.
The study cannot prove what causes this increase, but the authors said increased exposure to ionizing radiation from time spent in the thinner upper atmosphere as well as disrupted sleep and meal cycles could be factors.
Published in the journal Environmental Health, the study found a higher rate of every cancer outcome it looked at when age was standardized.
Dr. Irina Mordukhovich of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said, “We report a higher lifetime prevalence of breast, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers among flight crew relative to the general population. “This is striking given the low rates of overweight and smoking in this occupational group.”
The increased cancer risk was seen in breast (3.4 percent of flight crew compared to 2.3 percent in the general population), cervical (1.0 percent compared to 0.70 percent), gastrointestinal (0.47 percent compared to 0.27 percent), and thyroid (0.67 percent compared to 0.56 percent).
They also found that risk of non-melanoma skin cancers rose with every five years spent in the job.
Flight attendants are exposed to multiple known and probable carcinogens in the cabin environment. These include altitude-based radiation, disruption to the body clock through irregular and anti-social shift patterns and poor air quality inside the cabin.
Previous studies have shown cabin crew have some of the highest radiation exposure of any job, including those in the nuclear industry, but this exposure is not required to be routinely monitored as in other sectors.
Many flight attendants were also exposed to high levels of secondhand tobacco smoke before inflight smoking bans were implemented.
Job tenure did not appear to be associated with breast cancer, thyroid cancer or melanoma in all women, but it was associated with higher risk of breast cancer in women who never had children and women who had three or more children, researchers said.
Authors said the findings suggested additional efforts should be made to minimize the risk of cancer among flight attendants, including monitoring radiation dose and organizing schedules.
Source:Irandaily