Occupational exposure to electric shocks and magnetic fields and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sweden

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fang F ; Feychting M ; Fischer H ; Huss A ; Kheifets L ; Peters TL ; Vergara XP ; Vermeulen R ; Wiebert P ; Ye W
• Description:
  Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been consistently related to "electric occupations," but associations with magnetic field levels were generally weaker than those with electrical occupations. Exposure to electric shock has been suggested as a possible explanation. Furthermore, studies were generally based on mortality or prevalence of ALS, and studies often had limited statistical power. Methods: Using two electric shock and three magnetic field jobexposure matrices, we evaluated the relationship of occupational magnetic fields, electric shocks, electric occupations, and incident ALS in a large population-based nested case-control study in Sweden. Subanalyses, specified a priori, were performed for subjects by gender and by age (less than and more than 65 years). Results: Overall, we did not observe any associations between occupational magnetic field or electric shock exposure and ALS. For individuals less than 65 years old, high electric shock exposure was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.22 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.43). The corresponding result for the age group 65 years or older was OR = 0.92 (95% CI = 0.81, 1.05). Results were similar regardless which job exposure matrices, exposure definitions, or cutpoints were used. For electric occupations, ORs were close to unity, regardless of age. For welders, no association was observed overall, although for welders <65 years the OR was 1.52 (95% CI = 1.05, 2.21). Conclusions: In this very large population-based study based on incident ALS case subjects, we did not confirm previous observations of higher risk of ALS in electrical occupations, and provided only weak support for associations between electric shocks and ALS. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Electric Injuries Electricity Environmental Exposure Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Cell Damage Cell Function Cellular Effects Cellular Function Electrical Shock Exposure Levels Gender Factors Magnetic Fields Nerves Spinal Cord

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• ISSN:
  1044-3983
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  26
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048341
• Citation:
  Epidemiology 2015 Nov; 26(6):824-830
• Contact Point Address:
  Maria Feychting, Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Box 210, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
• Email:
  maria.feychting@ki.se
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8bcac7918aa8a0c2694964c7602b9cfef82731d05c88953478505e7671cab78dff225aa0629860dfad88fd6c097f9f42b7ce29c408f5cd3143bffd1818d09a97
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203110/cdc_203110_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 329.04 KB ]