Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Don't you have to worry about radiation at some point? I mean flying 300 days out of the year has to add up.


Not sure why you're being downvoted, it's a real issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/24/news/24iht-radiate_ed3__0....

> A 1996 paper published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found a higher incidence of myeloid leukemia, astrocytoma, prostate cancer and malignant melanoma among 2,740 Air Canada pilots than in the general population.

> One study of female flight attendants in Finland and Denmark found an increased rate of breast cancer.


Also, via XKCD:

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

Three LA to NY flights are more than the approximate dose received at Fukushima Town Hall over two weeks following the accident. But you have to make 175 flights to get as much as you get with just one chest CT scan.


According to that graph a chest x-ray (20 µSv) has half the effect of a LA-NY flight (40 µSv)


Chest X-ray << Chest CT scan (350x)

Which makes sense, since a CT scan is basically enough X-rays that you can make a 3D picture.


Shift work also gives you cancer at higher rates. I'd imagine time zones changes also.

It doesn't mention if this is accounted for.



Some people spend their entire careers working as pilots or flight attendants.


Right, and as the article linked to above points out, they are at increased risk of various cancers.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: