Study type: Epidemiological study (observational study)

Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and electrical shocks and acute myeloid leukemia in four Nordic countries epidem.

Published in: Cancer Causes Control 2015; 26 (8): 1079-1085

Aim of study (acc. to author)

A case-control study was conducted in four Nordic countries to investigate the association between occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields as well as electrical shocks and acute myeloid leukemia.

Endpoint/type of risk estimation

Type of risk estimation: (hazard ratio)

Exposure

Assessment

Exposure groups

Group Description
Reference group 1 magnetic field exposure: no
Group 2 magnetic field exposure: low
Group 3 magnetic field exposure: high
Reference group 4 magnetic field cumulative exposure: 0 unit-years
Group 5 magnetic field cumulative exposure: 1 - 16.2 unit-years
Group 6 magnetic field cumulative exposure: 16.2 - 29.9 unit-years
Group 7 magnetic field cumulative exposure: 29.9 - 159.9 unit-years
Reference group 8 electrical shocks: no risk
Group 9 electrical shocks: low risk
Group 10 electrical shocks: high risk
Reference group 11 electrical shocks, cumulative exposure: 0 unit-years
Group 12 electrical shocks, cumulative exposure: 1 - 19.9 unit-years
Group 13 electrical shocks, cumulative exposure: 19.9 - 45.7 unit-years
Group 14 electrical shocks, cumulative exposure: 45.7 - 159.9 unit-years
Reference group 15 electric/electronic occupations (according to Deapen et al., 1988): no
Group 16 electric/electronic occupations (according to Deapen et al., 1988): yes
Reference group 17 electric/electronic occupations (according to Feychting et al., 2003): no
Group 18 electric/electronic occupations (according to Feychting et al., 2003): yes

Population

Case group

Control group

Study size

Cases Controls
Evaluable 5,049 27,045
Statistical analysis method:

Results (acc. to author)

Approximately 40 % of the subjects were ever occupationally exposed to low levels and 7 % to high levels of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, whereas 18 % were ever at low risk and 15 % at high risk of electrical shocks.
The authors did not observe an association between occupational exposure to neither extremely low-frequency magnetic fields nor electrical shocks and acute myeloid leukemia. The hazard ratio was 0.88 (CI 0.77-1.01) for subjects with exposure to high levels of extremely low-frequency magnetic field and 0.94 (CI 0.85-1.05) for subjects with high risk of electrical shocks in comparison to the reference groups.
The authors conclude that there is no evidence for an association between occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic fields or electric shock exposure and acute myeloid leukemia.

Study funded by

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