NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters Health) -- Aerospace workers exposed to hydrazine fuels during rocket-engine fueling and testing may face increased risks for death from lung and other cancers, according to a report.
There may be links between "hydrazine exposure and the rates of dying from cancers of the lung, blood and lymph system," write Dr. Beate Ritz and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles. Their findings are published in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Hydrazines -- propellant chemicals used in rocket fuels -- have been associated with cancers in animal studies. According to the researchers, these chemicals were used in "large quantities" at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory near Los Angeles, especially between 1955 and 1970.
To determine the effect of hydrazine exposure in humans, the investigators examined the medical histories of over 6,000 individuals who worked at the Santa Susana facility at some time between 1950 and 1993.
They report that risks for lung cancer of workers exposed to hydrazine fuels were up to twice as high as those of workers not exposed to the fuels. Risks seemed to rise with increasing length of employment at Santa Susana.
Although the data were "imprecise," Ritz's group obtained similar results regarding other cancers, including leukemias and lymphatic cancers, and cancers of the bladder and kidney.
Although the findings suggest a strong link between prolonged hydrazine exposure and risk of death from lung cancer and other cancers, the authors stress that their findings remain preliminary, and "need to be replicated in other populations."
