Occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields and brain tumours in the INTEROCC study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Benke G ; Bowman, Joseph D. ; Cardis E ; Figuerola-Alquezar J ; Fleming S ; Hours M ; Kincl, Laurel ; Krewski D ; Lavoue J ; McLean D ; Parent ME ; Richardson L ; Sadetzki S ; Schlaefer K ; Schlehofer B ; Siemiatycki J ; Turner MC ; Van Tongeren M
• Description:
  Objectives: Brain tumours are a serious, often fatal disease with few established risk factors. Although ionising radiation has been clearly linked with brain tumours, there are a number of other environmental and occupational agents suspected including extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) exposure. However the literature is inconsistent, and questions remain due to small sample sizes and limitations in exposure assessment in previous studies. The objective of this paper was to examine the association between occupational exposure to ELF-MF in different time windows and brain tumours in the large-scale INTEROCC study. Methods: The INTEROCC study is formed by seven participating countries Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom) from the parent INTERPHONE study. Cases of primary brain glioma and meningioma aged at least 20 years were recruited between 2000 and 2004. Detailed occupational history data was collected for jobs held at least six months. Job titles were coded into standard international occupational classifications and estimates of mean workday ELF-MF exposure assigned based on a job exposure matrix. Conditional logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Data on a total of 3,978 brain tumour cases, including 2,054 gliomas and 1,924 meningiomas, were analysed with 5,601 control subjects. Estimates of cumulative exposure, time-weighted average exposure, maximum exposure, and exposure duration were calculated for exposure 1-4, 5-9, and 10+ years in the past. Estimates of mean cumulative exposure were higher for males, older participants, and participants with lower levels of educational attainment. Positive associations between different indicators of ELF-MF exposure in the 1-4 year time window and glioma but not meningioma were observed. Conclusion: Occupational ELF-MF exposure may play a role in the promotion of glioma, however findings may also be due to reverse causality or other methodological sources of bias. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Electromagnetic Phenomena Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Magnetic Fields Neoplasms Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Radiation Safety

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-methods Analytical-processes Biological-effects Brain-tumors Chemical-deposition Electromagnetic-fields Exposure-assessment Ionizing-radiation Job-analysis Magnetic-fields Magnetic-properties Occupational-exposure Occupations Synergism Tumorigenesis Tumors

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  70
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043373
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2013 Sep; 70(Suppl 1):A81-A82
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 23rd Conference on Epidemiology in Occupational Health EPICOH 2013: Improving the Impact June 18-21, 2013, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Supplement:
  1
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:000bedb7ac6f5c7f0b494131789c3faae4e472e44c6abd89dd2c337b62aea57a723c5c6b2b6b0686d27e30c174ee98ad18d78f90cdfcc2cde9fec15713db11ad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195290/cdc_195290_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 81.78 KB ]