U.S. Flight Crews Face Higher Cancer Mortality Risk from Radiation Exposure
A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals that U.S. airline pilots and flight attendants experience a significantly higher risk of death from radiation-related cancers compared to other professions, including nuclear technologists. Researchers from Harvard Medical School analyzed U.S. death certificates from 2020 to 2024, encompassing nearly 13 million deceased individuals across 503 occupations, including 14,000 pilots and 7,000 flight attendants. The analysis controlled for various factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, and marital status. The study found that nearly seven percent of deaths among flight attendants and pilots were attributed to radiation-related cancers, a proportion higher than any other profession examined. Specifically, flight crews showed statistically higher rates of death from breast, central nervous system, prostate cancers, and melanoma, with pilots also exhibiting a higher leukemia death rate. This elevated risk is primarily linked to their exposure t... 
