S, welders and other workers who are persistently exposed to high levels of electromagnetic fields may be at higher risk of developing deadly motor neurone disease, according to a study published yesterday.
Research in The BMJ drew a link between such exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive degeneration of the motor nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
There is currently no cure, and those affected usually die within a few years of diagnosis.
The disease is very rare, occurring on average among two new cases per 100,000 people every year, most typically among individuals aged between 55 and 65.
“Those whose jobs had exposed them to high levels of extremely low electromagnetic fields were more than twice as likely to develop ALS as those who had never been exposed,” according to researchers led by Roel Vermeulen, a professor at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences at
Utrecht University in The Netherlands.
Low-frequency electromagnetic fields are generated by electrical appliances and electrical tools and the power grid.
Earlier studies have said ALS may be associated with close workplace exposure to these fields, but the link has proven very difficult to establish.
Other suspected sources of the nerve disease are electric shocks, solvents, metal and pesticides.
Researchers reviewed medical records of about 120,000 men and women who were monitored for 17 years starting from the age of 55 to 69.
Seventy-six men and 60 women who died of ALS during this time were compared to a control group of about 4,000 randomly selected people.
Work histories detailed exposure to the five suspect agents.