研究發現 機組人員患癌風險要高於其他人羣

Flight attendants may have a higher risk of a number of cancers, a new study finds.

一項新研究發現，空乘人員患癌症的風險可能比普通人要高。

Researchers found that women and men on U.S. cabin crews have higher rates of many types of cancer, compared with the general population.

研究人員發現，與普通人羣相比，許多種癌症在美國女性和男性機組人員身上的發病率都要更高。

This includes cancers of the breast, cervix, skin, thyroid and uterus, as well as gastrointestinal system cancers, which include colon, stomach, esophageal, liver and pancreatic cancers.

這其中包括了乳腺癌、宮頸癌、皮膚癌、甲狀腺癌、子宮癌以及消化系統癌症。消化系統癌症則包括結腸癌、胃癌、食道癌、肝癌和胰腺癌。

One possible explanation for these increased rates is that flight attendants are exposed to a lot of known and potential carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, within their work environment, said lead study author Irina Mordukhovich, a research associate at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

該研究的主要作者、哈佛大學陳曾熙公共衛生學院助理研究員埃琳娜·莫爾杜霍維奇稱，對這種比率上升的一個可能的解釋是，空乘人員在工作環境中接觸了大量已知的潛在致癌物或致癌物質。

One of those carcinogens is cosmic ionizing radiation, which is elevated at higher altitudes, Mordukhovich told Live Science. This type of radiation is particularly damaging to DNA and is a known cause of breast cancer and nonmelanoma skin cancer.

莫爾杜霍維奇向《Live Science》透露，其中一種致癌物是宇宙電離輻射，海拔越高，輻射水平越高。這種輻射對DNA的損傷尤其大，是乳腺癌和非黑色素瘤皮膚癌的已知致病原因。

Air cabin crews receive the highest yearly dose of ionizing radiation on the job of all U.S. workers, she added.

此外，她還表示，機組人員每年接受的電離輻射量是美國所有工作人員中最高的。

In the new study, the researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 flight attendants from different airlines who completed an online survey as part of the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study.

在這項新研究中，研究人員查看了來自各家航空公司的5300餘名空乘人員的數據。這些人在此前完成了哈佛空乘人員健康研究的一項在線調查。

The analysis looked at the cancer rates in these flight attendants compared to a group of about 2,700 people who had a similar income and educational status but were not flight attendants.

這項調查研究了這些空乘人員的癌症發病率，並與大約2700名收入和受教育程度與空乘類似的非空乘人員進行了對比。

The researchers found that in female flight attendants, the rates of breast cancer were about 50 percent higher than in women from the general population.

研究人員發現，女性空乘人員的乳腺癌發病率比普通人羣女性高出50%左右。

In addition, melanoma rates were more than two times higher and nonmelanoma skin cancer rates were about four times higher in female flight attendants compared with women from the general population.

另外，與普通人羣女性相比，女性空乘的黑色素瘤發病率要高出兩倍以上，非黑色素瘤皮膚癌的發病率則高出四倍左右。

Cancer rates in male flight attendants were nearly 50 percent higher for melanoma and about 10 percent higher for nonmelanoma skin cancers compared with men from the general population group.

與普通人羣男性相比，男性空乘的黑色素瘤發病率要高出近50%，而非黑色素瘤皮膚癌的發病率則高出約10%。

The potential cancer risks for flight attendants are not limited to cosmic ionizing radiation. Cabin crew members are also regularly exposed to more UV radiation than the general population, which can make these workers more vulnerable to skin cancers, Mordukhovich said.

給空乘人員帶來潛在致癌風險的並不僅有宇宙電離輻射。莫爾杜霍維奇表示，空乘人員受到的紫外輻射通常也比普通人羣高，這可能使他們更容易患皮膚癌。