Military Air Crews Getting Cancer At High Rates

A Pentagon study reveals military pilots and aircrew members have higher cancer rates.

The study was conducted over a one year period surveying 900,000 service members who flew, fueled or worked on military aircraft between 1992 and 2017. It showed the aircrew members had an 87% higher rate of melanoma, 39% higher rate of thyroid cancer, an 18% greater incidence of  prostate cancer for men, and a 16% greater rate of breast cancer in females. To quote the report, “Overall, the air crews had a 24% higher rate of cancer of all types

Those who did not fly but worked on ground crews showed a 19% higher rate of brain and nervous system malignancies, a 15% higher rate of  thyroid cancer, a 9% higher rate of renal cancers and a 7% higher rate of breast cancer in women.

But there was some good news in the report as well. It reported that both ground crews and air crews had far lower rates of lung cancer, bladder cancer and colon cancer.

Because of the anomalies found, the pentagon will be required by Congress to conduct an even more in depth study to understand the reason for the increase in this specific group.

-Tony Lee