A five-year study into the causes of deaths of workers at Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) shows significantly lower death rates from all causes and cancer in general when compared to the overall United States population. This is known by occupational health researchers as the “healthy worker effect”. However, death from lymphatic and bone marrow cancers such as leukemia or multiple myeloma were slightly above national rates.
The study was conducted by faculty at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences and collaborators from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky. It was funded through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, thanks to the effort of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who was instrumental in getting the study off the ground.