Study Finds Elevated Cancer Risk Among US Pilots and Flight Attendants Linked to Radiation Exposure

A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals that pilots and flight attendants in the United States face significantly higher mortality rates from cancers associated with radiation exposure. Researchers from Harvard Medical School analyzed nearly 13 million death certificates from 2020 to 2024, including about 14,000 pilots and over 7,000 flight attendants, across 503 different professions. They found that 6.9% of deaths among flight attendants and 6.7% among pilots were due to specific cancers linked to radiation, compared to approximately 5% in the general working population. After adjusting for other factors, the risk was about 50% higher for flight attendants and 36% higher for pilots.

The study points to cosmic radiation exposure at high altitudes as a possible cause, emphasizing that the risk relates to cumulative exposure over years of work rather than occasional flights. However, the researchers caution that the study does not definitively prove radiation causes the increased cancer risk, partly because detailed data on flight hours and individual radiation doses were not available. Currently, there is no mandatory routine monitoring of radiation exposure for aircrew in the US, though a June report recommended enhanced oversight and tracking of cumulative exposure. Similarly, Israel lacks general requirements for such monitoring, except for flights above 49,000 feet where recording data to estimate radiation doses is mandatory.