TY - JOUR T1 - Health burdens of uranium miners will extend beyond the radiation exposure compensation act deadline JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO - Occup Environ Med SP - 503 LP - 504 DO - 10.1136/oemed-2022-108311 VL - 79 IS - 7 AU - Kaitlin Kelly-Reif AU - Stephen J Bertke AU - Jonathan Samet AU - Akshay Sood AU - Mary K Schubauer-Berigan Y1 - 2022/07/01 UR - http://oem.bmj.com/content/79/7/503.abstract N2 - The US Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) is a government compensation programme, which provides partial restitution to individuals whose health was affected by nuclear weapons testing or uranium industry employment. RECA covers US uranium miners employed between 1942 and 1971 who developed or died from lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis, pneumoconiosis or cor pulmonale related to lung fibrosis. RECA is set to terminate this year. The filing deadline for living claimants or spouses of deceased claimants is 10 July 2022.1 To assess evidence of whether uranium miners will continue to develop compensable diseases after the termination of RECA, we examined mortality rate trends within the US Colorado Plateau uranium miner cohort.The US Colorado Plateau cohort includes 4137 underground uranium miners employed for at least 1 month and with one or more medical screenings between 1950 and 1960. Underlying cause of death was ascertained through 2016 using the US National Death Index. Person time began in 1960 when reference mortality rates were available. Person time ended at date of death, date lost to follow-up or the end of follow-up (2016). The cohort does not include millers or ore transporters. Details on cohort inclusion criteria, vital status, mortality ascertainment, outcome definition and standard population rates are reported in a previous study.2 We calculated standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and corresponding 95% CIs overall and by decade of calendar period (1960–1969, …, 2000–2009, 2010–2016) for silicosis, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pneumoconiosis, which are compensable for uranium miners under RECA. SMRs were adjusted for age and calendar period (5-year groups) and racialisation (white or American Indian). Regional standard mortality rates … ER -