Rocketdyne Worker Health Study
In the late 1990s, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) released studies on potential impacts of radiation and chemical exposures to Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) workers. The study was conducted by UCLA, overseen by the California Department of Health Services (DHS) and funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE).
At the time the UCLA studies were released, current and former employees raised many questions about the results of the study. In order to address employee questions, Rocketdyne and the UAW initiated the Follow-on Rocketdyne Worker Health Study in 1999. A group of outside experts, making up the Science Committee, were chosen to oversee the study and the International Epidemiology Institute (IEI) was selected to conduct the follow-on study. Rocketdyne, the UAW, the IEI Research Team and the Science Committee presented the study results to employees and retirees on April 7-8, 2005.
The IEI Research team found no consistent or credible evidence that employment at Rocketdyne had adversely affected worker mortality.
The Science Committee likewise concluded that, based on the results of the study,
- The Rocketdyne workforce had a much lower overall mortality than the rate observed in the California population
- There is no evidence that working conditions caused increased mortality in the Rocketdyne workforce
Further details can be found in the following links.
- Communications Material for Employee and Retiree Rollout
- Understanding the Rocketdyne Follow-on Worker Health Study. An explanation of what an epidemiological study is, how it is performed, and what the data means.
- Interpreting the Rocketdyne Follow-on Worker Health Study
- Science Committee Summary
- Presentation Materials. Powerpoint charts of the presentation given by John Boice of IEI to Rocketdyne employees and retirees on April 7th and 8th, 2005.
-
Rocketdyne Worker Health Study Final Report (Complete Report)
- Executive Summary
- Papers (To be made available following publication in peer reviewed journals)
- Mortality Among Rocketdyne/Atomics International Workers Monitored for Radiation 1948-1999 (Courtesy of the Journal of Radiation Research)
- Mortality Among Rocketdyne Workers Who Tested Rocket Engines, 1948-1999
- A Comprehensive Dose Reconstruction Methodology for Former Radiation Workers (Courtesy of the Journal of the Health Physics Society)
- A Respiratory Model for Uranium Aluminide Based on Occupational Data
- Appendices
- A. Analyses of All Rocketdyne Workers Combined
- B. Miscellaneous Study Topics
- C. Tobacco Use, Smoking Survey
- D. Comparisons with Previous Investigations by UCLA
- E. Databases Used During the Conduct of Study
- F. Glossary of Terms
- G. Study Brochure (October 2001)
- H. Responses to Issues Raised by Science Committee
- I. Institutional Review Board and Other Human Subjects Committee Approvals
- Biographies of the IEI Research Team
- Biographies of the Science Committee
If you have further questions on this study, please call 1 (800) 808-1160.
Contact:
Blythe Jameson, 818-466-8793.