Is flying going to kill me?
 

Surprisingly, 9/11 and terrorists don't worry my at all when it comes to flying. It is probably a bigger chance that I will be run over by a terrorist in the street than ending up on one of their flights, however, should health effects of flying worry me more?

Is radiation going to kill me?
I have been flying 2-300,000 flight miles every year for the last 5-6 years and it is not looking like it will diminish in the near term. If it is true that every 4 hours in the air is an equivalent of a chest x-ray that means I am getting 100 doses per year. Does anyone know if this worry has any merit? If I was doing a chest x-ray twice per week, I have a feeling my doctor would be worried about a law suit when I am beginning to mutate :-)

delete

If you're worried, just do more of those 2 mile years and less of the 300,000 mile years.

But seriously, I'm surprised that the aircraft manufacturers don't seem to be putting any effort into doing something about the radiation issue. Of course they can't put in 6 inches of lead around the fuselage, but you'd think they could do something. Especially since they're designing new super sonic planes which fly significantly higher, and presumably would expose you to more radiation.

d

I am a chemist analyzing various sewage (treated & untreated) samples. One may think I should change employers, etc. Yes, I am at higher risk but I wouldn't change jobs, etc. (actually wearing personal protective stuff, etc. reduces the risk alot). If I stayed home, not traveled ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif), & worry about being at risk, I may have other (IMHO) worse problems than those risks I'd avoided such as heart attack, stress, etc. I met a couple from the SF Bay area who had a neighbor who wanted to wait until they retired & had accumulated a large "pot" of $$ to travel. When it came time for them to retire at age 70, their health was so bad they were unable to leave their house, let alone travel. I'll take my very good job (affords me the $$ to travel http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif), having a great time traveling & best of all, meeting other FTers who also love to travel.

Bottom line: Enjoy your travels! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif When I get older, I may not have the health, etc. to take trips. Travel now if you can. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Nah, flying won't kill ya. Trying to straighten out all the points/miles promos will!

Flying maynot kill you, but it most likely will shorten your life!

tmorse6570 states that the risk of death by cancer is 1:20,000? Where does this number come from? Seems completely at odds with well-known statistics.

Actually, it's much much greater than that. Latest statistics I can find: ACS estimates 2002 deaths from cancer at @ 550,000.

http://www.cancer.org/

National Center for Health Statistics shows 2000 deaths in US at approximately 2.4 million.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

Therefore, it would appear that the risk of death by cancer (i.e., that your death will be caused by some form of cancer, not risk that a particular case of cancer will kill you) is approximately 1 in 5.

Djlawman

I like your way of looking at things. Here are a few more examples.

More students die at schools after being run over by fire trucks than die in school fires by a large margin.

Also, I moved to NYC several years ago and worried about becoming the victim of crime. I was not there very long before I realized I had a much greater risk of stepping off a curb and being killed by a taxi or bus than of ever being robbed.

Sorry I don't know anything about radiation.

I guess nothing will be totally safe, and as "Chemist661" says flying is fun, so why not just enjoy it!
I am intrigued by all the info provided, however, it seems like we will have a tough time reconciling all the risk estimates (it kind of reminds me of the debate around whether cell phones are harmful.
"tmorse6570", maybe I should be popping some extra vitamin C before I get on each flight.
I just took another round trip flight yesterday, so you guys haven't managed to scare me yet.
See you in the skys - radiation or no radiation.

You may also want to factor in the benefits of extending your life (relative to observers on the ground) from the time spent at higher velocity and lower gravity.

Besides "crashes" the risk of dying from the effects of flying are Looong run and therefore most people ignore them. It is like smoking, doesn't kill anyone right away, it is cumulative. Pilots and flight attendants obviously get the worst of it.

People who fly as much as you seem to should also be concerned. There is no personal protective equipment that I know of that you can take on the plane.

Are you concerned when your drive a car? It is risky too. Again for those who drive huge miles, lots of physical risks are incurred.