Lung Cancer Risk due to Exposure to Incorporated Plutonium

An epidemiological study has been carried out among 1,479 male workers who started working at the "Mayak" Production Association in 1948-1958 and were exposed to external γ radiation and plutonium aerosols. Lung cancer mortality for the follow-up period 1948-1993 has been analyzed. No statistically significant association of lung cancer mortality and external γ-ray dose has been revealed in the range of accumulated doses of 0.2-5.5 Gy. Association of lung cancer mortality and the dose of α-particle radiation to the lung is statistically significant. In the dose range below 30 Sv, this association can be described in terms of a linear nonthreshold function. Lifetime lung cancer risk in the dose range below 30 Sv is <tex-math>$1.21\times 10^{-2}\ {\rm Sv}^{-1}$</tex-math>.