REVIEW

Cosmic rays: are air crew at risk?

M K Lim¹

¹ Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD3, 16 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
M K Lim, Department of Community, Occupational, and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD3, 16 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597;
coflimmk{at}nus.edu.sg

This article reviews the current knowledge about cosmic rays and their possible effects on health of air crew, discusses research directions necessary for establishing and measuring the risks, and highlights the need for physicians and air crew to be informed, despite the inconclusiveness of the evidence. A literature review of computerised medical and scientific databases was carried out. Recent reports highlighting increased incidence of cancer among airline pilots and cabin crew have renewed concerns about possible exposure to harmful levels of cosmic radiation at altitude. Such low energy ionising radiation has been shown to cause double stranded DNA deletions and induce genomic instability in human chromosomes. In the field of microelectronics, cosmic rays have been shown to cause "hard" and "soft" errors in computer microchips, in a dose-response fashion with increasing altitude. Pregnant cabin crew members are of special concern. Although the epidemiological evidence is still inconclusive, we know enough to warrant a cautionary stance. The European Union (EU) leads the way in legislation.

Keywords: radiation; pilots; altitude

---

 

COMMENTARY

Michael Bagshaw²

² Head of Occupational and Aviation Medicine, British Airways, Waterside (HMAG), PO Box 365, Harmondsworth, Middx UB7 0GB, UK

---

 

AUTHOR'S RESPONSE

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?