Savannah, South Carolina – Workers at a Savannah, South Carolina nuclear facility have been added to the list of occupational groups at risk for asbestos exposure and related health conditions such as mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive and treatment-resistant type of pleural cancer. Nuclear materials have been processed at the Savannah River Site since the 1950s.

Those who are employed at the facility have higher-than-normal risks of developing certain types of cancers, as indicated by the results of a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in December 2007. The study was carried out by a team of researchers led by Dr. David B. Richardson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The results of the study suggest that on-the-job exposure to carcinogens is responsible for the increased cancer risks for the Savannah nuclear plant workers. The study published by Richardson’s team notes that it is “plausible” that occupational hazards such as asbestos and ionizing radiation have contributed to the risks faced by workers at the facility.

A total of 18,883 employees of the South Carolina plant were included in the study. All of the included employees had been hired before 1987, and had been employed at the Savannah River Site for three months or longer.

The results of the study showed that death rates from many other causes were lower than national averages, and that the death rates for certain types of cancers were also lower. However, the death rates for certain cancers were higher than expected. Interestingly, the cancer rates differed for men and women.

For male workers at the facility, the risks of dying of leukemia and pleural cancer, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, were abnormally high in comparison to US averages. Female workers at the plant had abnormally high death rates from skin and kidney cancers.

Pleural mesothelioma of the kind the workers had developed is strongly linked to long-term asbestos exposure. According to the researchers, industrial hygiene reports indicated that some workers at the facility had been exposed to high levels of asbestos during the 1970s. Pleural cancers generally take two or more decades to develop following exposure to asbestos.

The researchers note that their findings underscore the important of conducting ongoing research into the health of former nuclear workers. Diseases such as pleural cancer take many years, even several decades, to develop, and understanding the causes of such diseases requires long-term study, and these types of studies are particularly important in understanding the potential long-term occupational health effects of nuclear facilities.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, South Carolina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.