Cosmic Rays Affect Airline Pilots

It’s long been known that flying high in the atmosphere leads to increased exposure to radiation (one estimate we’ve heard: three cross-country flights is equivalent to a chest x-ray). Now, a new study concludes that those who work in the sky are at risk for cataracts:

Commercial airline pilots are reported to be at an increased risk for some cancers, but studies on the biological effects of their exposure to cosmic radiation have been limited, according to background information in the article….
Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, and colleagues conducted a case control study involved 445 men to determine whether employment as a pilot is associated with lens opacification…
“The odds ratio for nuclear cataract risk among cases and controls was 3.02 for pilots compared with nonpilots, adjusted for age, smoking status, and sunbathing habits,” the researchers report. The researchers found an association between the estimated cumulative radiation dose and the risk of nuclear cataract.

This isn’t all bad news, however. We recall a recent film focused on this phenomenon (which we didn’t see, having read the book). It involved several astronauts getting irradiated and coming back home with super-powers. So maybe the pilots can look forward to some positive effects from cosmic radiation.
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