Flight Attendants and Pilots Face Highest Risk of Radiation-Related Cancer Deaths, Study Finds
A new study published by JAMA Internal Medicine indicates that flight attendants and pilots have the highest risk of dying from radiation-related cancers compared to over 500 other occupations. The research, which analyzed national data from more than 12 million death certificates, found that flight attendants had approximately 50% higher odds of dying from such cancers than the general working population, while pilots had about 36% higher odds. These cancers include leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and cancers of the skin, breast, thyroid, prostate, and central nervous system. The study suggests that occupational radiation exposure, specifically cosmic radiation encountered at high altitudes, is the underlying factor, rather than lifestyle or socioeconomic elements. Notably, neither group showed elevated death rates from cancers not linked to radiation exposure, reinforcing the hypothesis. 
