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The life of an air hostess may seem glamorous, but the work comes with health risks that go beyond the management of surly passengers. As a group, they get some cancers more than the general population, according to a new study.
Scientists have long recognized that flight attendants have more breast cancer and melanoma. The new study, published in the journal Environmental Health, observed the same trend and detected a higher prevalence of all other cancers investigated by researchers: non-melanoma, uterine, gastrointestinal, cervical and thyroid skin cancers. flight attendants
"Something that surprised us a bit, to a certain extent, was that we also saw a higher case of breast cancer among women with three or more children," said Irina Mordukhovich, co -author of a Harvard study. TH Chan School of Public Health.
As a general rule, the older a woman is, the less likely she is to develop breast cancer. A previous study showed a similar result to the new discovery of breast cancer, but Mordukhovich did not expect these results to be replicated
"Women with three or more children probably do not sleep enough" said Mordukhovich. . "Combine that with this disruption of work, especially for those traveling abroad, this may be an indication that disruption of the circadian rhythm has an impact."
Circadian Rhythm Disturbances
Possible Factors
The New Study Compared Data on Self-Reported Cancer Cases in the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study, which Collects Data to Help People Understand how their work may affect health, with cases being tracked in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of the US Centers for Disease Control, an ongoing study that tracks the health and nutrition of adults and children in the general population. Eighty percent of the flight attendants in the study were women, as could be expected, according to the authors, in a "feminized" profession.
Research does not find out why flight attendants are reporting higher numbers. , based on previous research.
Flight attendants are often exposed to possible or probable carcinogens such as pesticides, flame retardants, jet fuel and other chemicals more frequently than the general population. They are also exposed to higher levels of cosmic ionizing radiation; the World Health Organization says that it is a cancer risk.
If you travel a lot, should you worry about your own risk of cancer? Mordukhovich said that there is not much research on frequent travelers, although the logic suggests that they face similar exposures. Independently, NASA scientists have studied high-altitude radiation to improve the monitoring of crews and passengers in the aviation industry.
Steve Fiering, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine in Dartmouth, said that it was difficult Fiering, who was not involved in the study, but who conducts research on flight attendants, said that higher rates of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in women in the study "striking" – in particular to see an increase of nearly four times non-melanoma skin cancer; Mordukhovich said that she and her colleagues were motivated to study flight attendants because there were gaps in research on them, which could mean gaps in policies to protect them at work, at [http://www.mordukhovich.com]. 19659002] In Europe, the exposure of flight attendants to cosmic ionizing radiation is further monitored and limited by law. There is no official dose limit for US crews. In fact, it 's only in 2014 that American flight attendants have received occupational safety and health protections like other American workers, but still to – day. these protections are limited, said Mordukhovich
. science and provide more evidence for policy makers on the health of this profession, "said Mordukhovich." We hope this helps. "
Written by Jen Christensen for CNN.
The-CNN-Wire 
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