Greater Odds for Angina in Uranium Miners Than Nonuranium Miners in New Mexico

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that uranium miners in New Mexico (NM) have a greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease than miners who extracted the nonuranium ore. METHODS: NM-based current and former uranium miners were compared with nonuranium miners by using cross-sectional standardized questionnaire data from the Mining Dust in the United States (MiDUS) study from 1989 to 2016. RESULTS: Of the 7215 eligible miners, most were men (96.3%). Uranium miners (n = 3151, 43.7%) were older and diabetic, but less likely to currently smoke or use snuff (P ≤ 0.001 for all). After adjustment for covariates, uranium miners were more likely to report angina (odds ratio 1.51, 95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.85) than nonuranium miners. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that along with screening for pulmonary diseases, uranium industry workers should be screened for cardiovascular diseases.