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Epidemiologic study to determine possible adverse effects to Rocketdyne/Atomics Int. workers from exposure to selected chemicals. Addendum Report

AuthorMorgenstern, Froines, Ritz, Young
Date1999
Classification 3.01.8.40/08 (UNITED STATES - SITES - NORTH WEST OTHER)
Front

From the publication:

INTRODUCTION

In the early 1990s, a worker health study--discussed in this report--was initiated 
in response to strong concerns voiced by area residents about the use of radioactive 
and toxic chemical substances at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) of 
Rocketdyne/Atomics International (AI), a division of Boeing North America 
(formerly Rockwell International). The Atomics International division was involved 
in the development and testing of nuclear reactors and other nuclear projects in Area 
IV of the SSFL, while Rocketdyne was engaged in the development and testing of 
rocket engines and related technologies. In May 1997, we submitted a final report 
describing associations between external and internal radiation doses and cancer 
mortality among Rocketdyne/ AI employees monitored for radiation exposures 
(Morgenstern et al., 1997). In those analyses, we found elevated cancer-mortality 
rates for workers exposed to higher, but permissible, cumulative doses of both 
types of radiation, and these observed effects were not limited to cancers of blood 
and lymph tissue.
This addendum report will focus on the possible effects of two chemicals on cancer 
mortality: hydrazine exposure associated with rocket-engine testing; and asbestos 
exposure associated with radiation-related activities. Although exposure to chemical 
carcinogens among rocket-engine-testing personnel was probably not limited to 
hydrazine, we did not have enough information or resources to measure exposures 
to other potential carcinogens in the workplace. To examine the hypothesized effects 
of these two exposures, we conducted a retrospective cohort study in two separate 
groups employed at the SSFL between 1950 and 1993.

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