Seo Songwon, Lee Dalnim, Seong Ki Moon, Park Sunhoo, Kim Soo-Geun, Won Jong-Uk, Jin Young Woo
1National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, 75, Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01812 Republic of Korea.
2Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2018 Feb 2;30:9. doi: 10.1186/s40557-018-0219-y. eCollection 2018.
Ionizing radiation is a well-known carcinogen, and is listed as one carcinogenic agent of occupational cancer. Given the increase in the number of workers exposed to radiation, as well as the increase in concern regarding occupational cancer, the number of radiation-related occupational cancer claims is expected to increase. Unlike exposure assessment of other carcinogenic agents in the workplace, such as asbestos and benzene, radiation exposure is usually assessed on an individual basis with personal dosimeters, which makes it feasible to assess whether a worker's cancer occurrence is associated with their individual exposure. However, given the absence of a threshold dose for cancer initiation, it remains difficult to identify radiation exposure as the root cause of occupational cancer. Moreover, the association between cancer and radiation exposure in the workplace has not been clearly established due to a lack of scientific evidence. Therefore, criteria for the recognition of radiation-related occupational cancer should be carefully reviewed and updated with new scientific evidence and social consensus. The current criteria in Korea are valid in terms of eligible radiogenic cancer sites, adequate latent period, assessment of radiation exposure, and probability of causation. However, reducing uncertainty with respect to the determination of causation between exposure and cancer and developing more specific criteria that considers mixed exposure to radiation and other carcinogenic agents remains an important open question.
电离辐射是一种众所周知的致癌物，被列为职业性癌症的致癌因素之一。鉴于接触辐射的工人数量增加，以及对职业性癌症的关注度提高，预计与辐射相关的职业性癌症索赔数量将会增加。与工作场所中其他致癌物（如石棉和苯）的暴露评估不同，辐射暴露通常使用个人剂量计进行个体评估，这使得评估工人患癌是否与其个人暴露有关成为可能。然而，由于致癌起始没有阈值剂量，将辐射暴露确定为职业性癌症的根本原因仍然很困难。此外，由于缺乏科学证据，工作场所癌症与辐射暴露之间的关联尚未明确确立。因此，应根据新的科学证据和社会共识，仔细审查和更新辐射相关职业性癌症的认定标准。韩国目前的标准在符合条件的放射性致癌部位、足够的潜伏期、辐射暴露评估和因果关系概率方面是有效的。然而，减少暴露与癌症之间因果关系判定的不确定性，并制定更具体的标准以考虑辐射与其他致癌剂的混合暴露，仍然是一个重要的悬而未决的问题。
