Excess Lupus Cases Found Near Uranium Plant
WASHINGTON – People living in an area contaminated by a uranium processing plant had up to a 5-fold risk of developing systemic lupus erythematosus, researchers found.
In scrutinizing health issues among participants in the Fernald (Ohio) Community Cohort, 5 lupus cases occurred among the 4,187 individuals with low uranium exposure; 7 cases occurred among the 1,273 with moderate exposure, and 12 cases occurred among the 2,756 individuals with high exposure, said Pai-Yue Lu, MD, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Following logistic regression modeling, lupus was found to be associated with high exposure (OR 4.81, 95% CI 1.38–16.75, P=0.043), Lu reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.
There was no association between low or moderate uranium exposure and lupus, she said.
The research team decided to probe the connection between the uranium processing plant and lupus because extensive health histories were created when the environmental hazard caused by the processing – which extracted uranium for use in the government's nuclear weapons program – became subject to a class action lawsuit.
Lu said that one of the outcomes of the lawsuit, which aimed at cleaning up the polluted environment, was the establishment of a cohort that followed individuals for 18 years. The plant closed in 1989, and the cohort was followed from 1990 to 2008. The site is now a nature preserve.
In the Fernald Community Cohort overall, Lu said, the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis occurs at the expected prevalence, but lupus is markedly increased.
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