Abstract
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF, 100 kHz to 300 GHz) are classified by IARC as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). This study evaluates the potential association between occupational RF-EMF exposure and brain tumor risk, utilizing for the first time, a RF-EMF job-exposure matrix (RF-JEM) developed in the multi-country INTEROCC case-control study. Cumulative and time-weighted average (TWA) occupational RF-EMF exposures were estimated for study participants based on lifetime job histories linked to the RF-JEM using three different methods: (1) by considering RF-EMF intensity among all exposed jobs, (2) by considering RF-EMF intensity among jobs with an exposure prevalence ≥ the median exposure prevalence of all exposed jobs, and (3) by considering RF-EMF intensity of jobs of participants who reported RF-EMF source use. Stratified conditional logistic regression models were used, considering various lag periods and exposure time windows defined a priori. Generally, no clear associations were found for glioma or meningioma risk. However, some statistically significant positive associations were observed including in the highest exposure categories for glioma for cumulative and TWA exposure in the 1- to 4-year time window for electric fields (E) in the first JEM application method (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.36, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.08, 1.72 and 1.27, 95% CI 1.01, 1.59, respectively), as well as for meningioma for cumulative exposure in the 5- to 9-year time window for electric fields (E) in the third JEM application method (OR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.11, 4.78). We did not identify convincing associations between occupational RF-EMF exposure and risk of glioma or meningioma.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 538-551 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | International Journal of Cancer |
| Volume | 156 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 20 Sept 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 The Author(s). International Journal of Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of UICC.
Funding
Funding for the OccRF Health Study is provided by Agence Nationale de S\u00E9curit\u00E9 Sanitaire de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail (ANSES) no. EST\u20102018 RF\u201035. MCT is funded by a Ram\u00F3n y Cajal fellowship (RYC\u20102017\u201001892) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and cofunded by the European Social Fund. ISGlobal acknowledges support from the grant CEX2018\u2010000806\u2010S funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 , and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. FdV is partly funded by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) at the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The conduct of the INTEROCC study was funded by the National Institutes for Health (grant no. R01CA124759\u201001). The work on the French occupational data was in part funded by AFSSET (Convention no. ST\u20102005\u2010004). The INTERPHONE study was supported by funding from the European Fifth Framework Program, \u201CQuality of Life and Management of Living Resources\u201D (contract 100 QLK4\u2010CT\u20101999901563) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). The UICC received funds for this purpose from the Mobile Manufacturers' Forum (MMF), now Mobile and Wireless Forum (MWF), and the GSM Association. Provision of funds to the INTERPHONE study investigators via the UICC was governed by agreements that guaranteed INTERPHONE's complete scientific independence ( http://interphone.iarc.fr/interphone_funding.php ). In Australia, funding was received from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (EME) (Grant 219129) with funds originally derived from mobile phone service license fees; a University of Sydney Medical Foundation Program; the Cancer Council NSW; and the Cancer Council Victoria. In Montreal, Canada, funding was received from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (project MOP\u201042525); the Canada Research Chairs Program; the Guzzo\u2010CRS Chair in Environment and Cancer; the Fonds de recherche du Qu\u00E9bec \u2013 Sant\u00E9; the Cancer Research Society; in Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada, from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the latter including partial support from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association; the NSERC/SSHRC/McLaughlin Chair in Population Health Risk Assessment at the University of Ottawa. In France, funding was received by Cancer Research Society (Contract N85142) and three network operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom). In Germany, funding was received from the German Mobile Phone Research Program (Deutsches Mobilfunkforschungsprogramm) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nuclear Safety, and Nature Protection; the Ministry for the Environment and Traffic of the state of Baden\u2010Wurttemberg; the Ministry for the Environment of the State of North Rhine\u2010Westphalia; the MAIFOR Program (Mainzer Forschungsforderungsprogramm) of the University of Mainz. In New Zealand, funding was provided by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Hawkes Bay Medical Research Foundation, the Wellington Medical Research Foundation, the Waikato Medical Research Foundation, and the Cancer Society of New Zealand. Additional funding for the UK study was received from the Mobile Telecommunications, Health and Research (MTHR) program, funding from the Health and Safety Executive, the Department of Health, the UK Network Operators (O2, Orange, T\u2010Mobile, Vodafone, \u201C3\u201D), and the Scottish Executive. All industry funding was governed by contracts guaranteeing the complete scientific independence of the investigators.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades | |
| Scottish Government | |
| Department of Health | |
| Union for International Cancer Control | |
| Mobile Telecommunications, Health and Research | |
| Waikato Medical Research Foundation | |
| Cancer Research Society | |
| Cancer Council Victoria | |
| Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | |
| Hawkes Bay Medical Research Foundation | |
| MTHR | |
| Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé | |
| Ministry for the Environment of the State of North Rhine‐Westphalia | |
| Generalitat de Catalunya | |
| Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association | |
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | |
| Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz | |
| McLaughlin | |
| University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Health Research Council of New Zealand | |
| European Social Fund Plus | |
| Agencia Estatal de Investigación | |
| National Health and Medical Research Council | |
| Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada | |
| Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | |
| Ministry for the Environment and Traffic of the state of Baden‐Wurttemberg | |
| Canada Research Chairs | |
| European Fifth Framework Program | |
| Cancer Council NSW | |
| German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nuclear Safety | |
| Cancer Society of New Zealand | |
| Health and Safety Executive | |
| Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme | 219129 |
| Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail | EST‐2018 RF‐35, RYC‐2017‐01892 |
| Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire de l'Environnement et du Travail | ST‐2005‐004 |
| National Institutes of Health | R01CA124759‐01 |
| Canadian Institutes of Health Research | MOP‐42525 |
| Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources | 100 QLK4‐CT‐1999901563 |
Keywords
- INTEROCC
- brain tumors
- job-exposure matrix
- occupational exposure
- radiofrequency electromagnetic fields
