Department of Energy expands lung cancer screening for former lab workers

People who worked at the two major national laboratories in New Mexico will have more chances to get medical screening examinations for work-related diseases, federal officials announced.

Those who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy at Los Alamos National Laboratory or Sandia National Laboratories and are at high risk of lung cancer can also now get low-dose CT scans, according to the news release.

The DOE Former Worker Medical Screening Program is being expanded to New Mexico national lab workers who were exposed to radiation, asbestos, beryllium, and other carcinogenic metals and toxins, the White House announced May 3.

The screening is also “offered to all former DOE workers who have served the Nation in its national security and other missions,” the program said.

The screenings are being performed by the Worker Health Protection Program at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The new and expanded screening will be celebrated at two events in June, where speakers will include a former LANL worker, the director of DOE’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security, the head of the Los Alamos Medical Center, the head of the New Mexico Building And Construction Trades Council and representatives of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.