Cabin crew get compensation for breast cancer

Denmark compensates women who developed breast cancer after working nights... but Britain denies there's a risk - reported today in the Mail

Almost 40 air cabin crew, nurses and soldiers received payouts from the Danish government after the World Health Organisation ruled that working at night may have caused the disease.

Night shifts were rated just one rung below asbestos and smoking in the league table of potential cancer triggers. More than 3.5million Britons work nights, which research suggests disrupts production of a hormone that keeps breast tumours in check.

Women over 50 are screened for breast cancer in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive said a link between the cancer and shift work was 'not compelling'

The risk of prostate cancer may also be increased, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the WHO. They commented that disruption to the normal cycle of being awake during the day and asleep at night may suppress the production of the hormone melatonin which has some beneficial effects in preventing some steps leading to cancer.'

Previous studies have shown that breast cancer tumours grow roughly twice as fast as normal when exposed to blood which is low in melatonin.

The Danish government is the first in the world to classify breast cancer among shift workers as an industrial injury.

Those who will receive compensation include Ulla Mahnkop, who developed cancer in both breasts after spending 30 years working as a flight attendant. She said she would have left her job if she had known the dangers. 'I wouldn't have been flying for that many years,' she said. (Note: the risks become cumulative - the longer you fly the higher the risk becomes)

In Britain, a two-year study into the effects of shift work on health has been commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive. However, a spokesman said: 'At the moment, the evidence of a risk is not so compelling that the HSE feels preventive action should be taken in workplaces.'

Professor Andrew Watterson, an occupational health specialist at Stirling University, said: 'I think we can say there is a big public health problem here. The evidence has been good over a long period of time about cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal problems and nights. But lawyers warned it would be difficult to win a claim in Britain.