Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42392612›Full record

ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2026

Mortality among Fukushima nuclear emergency workers, 2012-2021.

Huan Hu, Kotaro Ozasa, Shinji Yoshinaga, Tetsuya Mizoue, Toshiteru Okubo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Huan HuResearch Center for Prevention From Radiation Hazards of Workers, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kanagawa, Japan hu.huanhuan@yahoo.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8558-2895
Kotaro OzasaHealth Management Centre, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Shinji YoshinagaDepartment of Environmetrics and Biometrics, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Tetsuya MizoueResearch Center for Prevention From Radiation Hazards of Workers, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kanagawa, Japan.
Toshiteru OkuboResearch Center for Prevention From Radiation Hazards of Workers, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kanagawa, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident involved approximately 20 000 emergency workers. Given the scale and nature of the accident, concerns have been raised regarding the long-term health of the emergency workers. This study presents the first 10 year overview of mortality among these workers.

methodsWe analysed the mortality data for 19 358 male emergency workers (mean age in 2012: 45.5 years; SD: 11.3) from 2012 to 2021. Mortality data were monitored through linkage to national vital statistics, including the dates and causes of death. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the general male population in Japan as a reference, standardised by calendar year and attained age (5 year age groups).

resultsDuring 190 700 person-years of follow-up, 708 deaths were identified. The overall SMR was 0.86 (95% CI 0.80 to 0.93). SMRs for all solid cancers and radiation-associated solid cancers and leukaemia were below 1.0 during 2012-2014, approached 1.0 during 2015-2017 and exceeded 1.0 during 2018-2021, suggesting marginal excess mortality (both P values for trend <0.05). In contrast, the increasing trends were less evident for neoplasms excluding radiation-associated solid cancers and leukaemia. No elevated SMR for suicide was observed.

conclusionsThe overall mortality among Fukushima emergency workers was lower than expected based on general population rates, likely reflecting the healthy-worker effect. However, marginal elevations in SMRs for all solid cancers and for radiation-associated solid cancers and leukaemia emerged during later follow-up, highlighting the importance of continued health monitoring in this population.

Indexed as

Fukushima Nuclear AccidentNeoplasms, Radiation-InducedOccupational ExposureAdultAgedCause of DeathHumansJapanMaleMiddle AgedAccidentsMortalityRadiation, Ionizing

Identifiers

PMID42392612
PMCPMC13422077

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.