Gender specific risks for female ionizing radiation workers

Following exposure to ionizing radiation, certain neoplastic diseases are expressed significantly more frequently in females than in males. Radiation associated ovarian cancer and the differential disease rates for thyroid cancer, breast cancer and other carcinomas lead to higher gender specific risks for female radiation workers when compared to males. This has implications for the calculation of the effective dose in both genders and for practical radiation safety procedures, especially for certain organs such as the breast and thyroid. The radiation associated fatal cancer rate in females is 60 % higher than in males. (author)