Flight crews face higher cancer risk

Flight attendants are more likely to develop several forms of cancer than the average person, a landmark study of more than 5,000 members of cabin crew has found.

Accounting for age, scientists discovered a higher prevalence in flight crew of every cancer outcome examined in the study, compared to the general population.

This includes breast (3.4 per cent of flight crew compared to 2.3 per cent in the general population), uterine (0.15 per cent compared to 0.13 per cent), cervical (1.0 per cent compared to 0.70 per cent), gastrointestinal (0.47 per cent compared to 0.27% per cent, and thyroid (0.67 per cent compared to 0.56 per cent) cancers.

Scientists said the findings are particularly worrying considering the relative good health of the flight attendants included in the sample.

Dr Irina Mordukhovich, author of the study at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said: “We report a higher lifetime prevalence of breast, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers among flight crew relative to the general population. This is striking given the low rates of overweight and smoking in this occupational group.”

Flight attendants are exposed to several known carcinogens, which include altitude-based radiation, disruption to the body clock through shift patterns, and poor air quality inside the cabin.