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Further follow-up of New Zealand participants in United Kingdom atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific

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Abstract

We previously reported a study of deaths and cancer incidence in Royal NewZealand (RNZ) Navy personnel who participated in atmospheric nuclear weaponstests conducted by the United Kingdom in the Pacific in 1957-58. The studyinvolved 528 men known to have participated in the tests, and a control groupof 1,504 men who were in the RNZ Navy during the same period but were notinvolved in the tests. The original follow-up was carried out for the period1957-87 with an observed increase in risk of leukemia and other hematologiccancers, but little or no increase of non-hematologic cancers or non-cancerdeaths in test participants. Follow-up now has been extended for the period1988-92. For the total follow-up period, there were 97 deaths in testparticipants and 256 deaths in controls, a relative risk (RR) of 1.1 (90percent confidence interval [CI] = 0.9-1.3). The RR of death from causesother than cancer was 1.0 (CI = 0.8-1.3), whereas the RR of cancer death was1.2 (CI = 0.8-1 .7) and that of cancer incidence was 1.0 (CI = 0.8-1.4). Forcancers other than hematologic malignancies, the RR was 1.0 (CI = 0.7-1.5)for mortality, and 1.0 (CI = 0.7-1.3) for incidence. However, there wereeight deaths from hematologic cancers in test participants (RR = 3.8, CI =1.4-10.8), including four leukemias (RR = 5.6, CI = 1.0-41.7). The RR forincidence of hematologic cancers was 1.9 (CI = 0.8-4.3), and that forleukemia was 5.6 (CI = 1.0-41.6). We concluded that the evidence is stillconsistent with the hypothesis that some leukemias and other hematologiccancers may have resulted from participation in the nuclear weapons testprogram, but the further follow-up strengthens the evidence that there is noincreased risk for non-hematologic cancers or for causes of death other thancancer in the test participants.

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Pearce, N., Winkelmann, R., Kennedy, J. et al. Further follow-up of New Zealand participants in United Kingdom atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific. Cancer Causes Control 8, 139–145 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018407927076

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018407927076

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