Javier Vila1, Michelle C Turner2, Esther Gracia-Lavedan3, Jordi Figuerola3, Joseph D Bowman4, Laurel Kincl5, Lesley Richardson6, Geza Benke7, Martine Hours8, Daniel Krewski9, Dave McLean10, Marie-Elise Parent11, Siegal Sadetzki12, Klaus Schlaefer13, Brigitte Schlehofer13, Joachim Schüz14, Jack Siemiatycki6, Martie van Tongeren15, Elisabeth Cardis3. 1. Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: javier.vila@isglobal.org. 2. Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 3. Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. 4. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), OH, USA. 5. Oregon State University (OSU), Corvallis, OR, USA. 6. University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), Montreal, Canada. 7. School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. 8. Université de Lyon, Université Lyon1 Claude Bernard, IFSTTAR, Unité Mixte de Recherche Épidémiologique et de Surveillance Transports Travail Environnement, Lyon, France. 9. McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 10. Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. 11. INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Université du Québec, Laval, Canada. 12. Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology Unit, Gertner Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. 13. German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany. 14. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Section of Environment and Radiation, Lyon, France. 15. Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Edinburgh, UK; Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Centre for Epidemiology, The University of Manchester, UK.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) as possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B), although the epidemiological evidence for the association between occupational exposure to RF-EMF and cancer was judged to be inadequate, due in part to limitations in exposure assessment. This study examines the relation between occupational RF and intermediate frequency (IF) EMF exposure and brain tumor (glioma and meningioma) risk in the INTEROCC multinational population-based case-control study (with nearly 4000 cases and over 5000 controls), using a novel exposure assessment approach. METHODS: Individual indices of cumulative exposure to RF and IF-EMF (overall and in specific exposure time windows) were assigned to study participants using a source-exposure matrix and detailed interview data on work with or nearby EMF sources. Conditional logistic regression was used to investigate associations with glioma and meningioma risk. RESULTS: Overall, around 10% of study participants were exposed to RF while only 1% were exposed to IF-EMF. There was no clear evidence for a positive association between RF or IF-EMF and the brain tumors studied, with most results showing either no association or odds ratios (ORs) below 1.0. The largest adjusted ORs were obtained for cumulative exposure to RF magnetic fields (as A/m-years) in the highest exposed category (≥90th percentile) for the most recent exposure time window (1-4 years before the diagnosis or reference date) for both glioma, OR = 1.62 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86, 3.01) and meningioma (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 0.65, 3.55). CONCLUSION: Despite the improved exposure assessment approach used in this study, no clear associations were identified. However, the results obtained for recent exposure to RF electric and magnetic fields are suggestive of a potential role in brain tumor promotion/progression and should be further investigated.
INTRODUCTION: In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) as possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B), although the epidemiological evidence for the association between occupational exposure to RF-EMF and cancer was judged to be inadequate, due in part to limitations in exposure assessment. This study examines the relation between occupational RF and intermediate frequency (IF) EMF exposure and brain tumor (glioma and meningioma) risk in the INTEROCC multinational population-based case-control study (with nearly 4000 cases and over 5000 controls), using a novel exposure assessment approach. METHODS: Individual indices of cumulative exposure to RF and IF-EMF (overall and in specific exposure time windows) were assigned to study participants using a source-exposure matrix and detailed interview data on work with or nearby EMF sources. Conditional logistic regression was used to investigate associations with glioma and meningioma risk. RESULTS: Overall, around 10% of study participants were exposed to RF while only 1% were exposed to IF-EMF. There was no clear evidence for a positive association between RF or IF-EMF and the brain tumors studied, with most results showing either no association or odds ratios (ORs) below 1.0. The largest adjusted ORs were obtained for cumulative exposure to RF magnetic fields (as A/m-years) in the highest exposed category (≥90th percentile) for the most recent exposure time window (1-4 years before the diagnosis or reference date) for both glioma, OR = 1.62 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86, 3.01) and meningioma (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 0.65, 3.55). CONCLUSION: Despite the improved exposure assessment approach used in this study, no clear associations were identified. However, the results obtained for recent exposure to RF electric and magnetic fields are suggestive of a potential role in brain tumor promotion/progression and should be further investigated.
Authors: Martine Vrijheid; Lesley Richardson; Bruce K Armstrong; Anssi Auvinen; Gabriele Berg; Matthew Carroll; Angela Chetrit; Isabelle Deltour; Maria Feychting; Graham G Giles; Martine Hours; Ivano Iavarone; Susanna Lagorio; Stefan Lönn; Mary McBride; Marie-Elise Parent; Siegal Sadetzki; Tina Salminen; Marie Sanchez; Birgitte Schlehofer; Joachim Schüz; Jack Siemiatycki; Tore Tynes; Alistair Woodward; Naohito Yamaguchi; Elisabeth Cardis Journal: Ann Epidemiol Date: 2009-01 Impact factor: 3.797
Authors: Anders Ahlbom; James Bridges; René de Seze; Lena Hillert; Jukka Juutilainen; Mats-Olof Mattsson; Georg Neubauer; Joachim Schüz; Myrtill Simko; Katja Bromen Journal: Toxicology Date: 2008-04-18 Impact factor: 4.221
Authors: Javier Vila; Joseph D Bowman; Jordi Figuerola; David Moriña; Laurel Kincl; Lesley Richardson; Elisabeth Cardis Journal: J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol Date: 2016-11-09 Impact factor: 5.563
Authors: Javier Vila; Joseph D Bowman; Lesley Richardson; Laurel Kincl; Dave L Conover; Dave McLean; Simon Mann; Paolo Vecchia; Martie van Tongeren; Elisabeth Cardis Journal: Ann Occup Hyg Date: 2015-10-21
Authors: He Gao; Maria Aresu; Anne-Claire Vergnaud; Dennis McRobie; Jeanette Spear; Andy Heard; Håvard Wahl Kongsgård; Deepa Singh; David C Muller; Paul Elliott Journal: Br J Cancer Date: 2018-12-26 Impact factor: 7.640