The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that flight attendants and pilots are at the highest risk of dying from radiation-related cancers -- even more than people who work with radioactive materials, according to a new study. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe says cosmic radiation comes from space. Only a small amount reaches the Earth's surface, but exposure is greater for people flying at high altitudes. There has been limited evidence from small studies suggesting that the exposure translates to higher cancer death rates among people who fly often, particularly pilots and flight attendants. The new study The latest study, published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine, used national data from more than 12 million death certificates that included information about occupations. The authors looked at death rates from cancers that are tied to radiation exposures, including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and cancers of the skin, breast, thyroid, prostate and central nervous system. The researchers found that flight attendants had about 50 per cent higher odds of dying from a radiation-related cancer than the general working population, and pilots had about 36 per cent higher odds.