TY - JOUR
T1 - Occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure and selected cancer outcomes in a prospective Dutch cohort
AU - Koeman, Tom
AU - Van Den Brandt, Piet A.
AU - Slottje, Pauline
AU - Schouten, Leo J.
AU - Goldbohm, R. Alexandra
AU - Kromhout, Hans
AU - Vermeulen, Roel
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - PURPOSE: To investigate the association between exposure to occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and the risk of a priori selected cancer outcomes within the prospective Netherlands Cohort Study. METHODS: 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 years at time of enrollment in 1986 were followed up (17.3 years) for incident lung, breast and brain cancer, and hemato-lymphoproliferative malignancies. Information on occupational history and potential confounders such as sex, age, smoking, alcohol use, and attained educational level were collected at baseline through a self-administered questionnaire. Occupational ELF-MF exposure was assigned with a job-exposure matrix. Using a case-cohort approach, associations with cancer incidence were analyzed with Cox regression stratified by sex, using three exposure metrics: (1) ever had a job with low or high exposure to ELF-MF versus background, (2) duration of exposure, and (3) cumulative exposure. RESULTS: None of the exposure metrics showed an effect on incidence for lung, breast, and brain cancer, nor any of the assessed subtypes in men and women. Of the hemato-lymphoproliferative malignancies in men, ever high exposed to ELF-MF showed a significant association with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [hazard ratio (HR) 2.15; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.06-4.35] and follicular lymphoma (FL) (HR 2.78; 95 % CI 1.00-5.77). Cumulative exposure to ELF-MF showed a significant, positive association with FL but not AML among men. CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, we found some indications of an increased risk of AML and FL among men with occupational ELF-MF exposure. These findings warrant further investigation.
AB - PURPOSE: To investigate the association between exposure to occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and the risk of a priori selected cancer outcomes within the prospective Netherlands Cohort Study. METHODS: 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 years at time of enrollment in 1986 were followed up (17.3 years) for incident lung, breast and brain cancer, and hemato-lymphoproliferative malignancies. Information on occupational history and potential confounders such as sex, age, smoking, alcohol use, and attained educational level were collected at baseline through a self-administered questionnaire. Occupational ELF-MF exposure was assigned with a job-exposure matrix. Using a case-cohort approach, associations with cancer incidence were analyzed with Cox regression stratified by sex, using three exposure metrics: (1) ever had a job with low or high exposure to ELF-MF versus background, (2) duration of exposure, and (3) cumulative exposure. RESULTS: None of the exposure metrics showed an effect on incidence for lung, breast, and brain cancer, nor any of the assessed subtypes in men and women. Of the hemato-lymphoproliferative malignancies in men, ever high exposed to ELF-MF showed a significant association with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [hazard ratio (HR) 2.15; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.06-4.35] and follicular lymphoma (FL) (HR 2.78; 95 % CI 1.00-5.77). Cumulative exposure to ELF-MF showed a significant, positive association with FL but not AML among men. CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, we found some indications of an increased risk of AML and FL among men with occupational ELF-MF exposure. These findings warrant further investigation.
KW - Brain cancer
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields
KW - Leukemia
KW - Lung cancer
KW - Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
KW - Prospective cohort
U2 - 10.1007/s10552-013-0322-x
DO - 10.1007/s10552-013-0322-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 24241907
SN - 0957-5243
VL - 25
SP - 203
EP - 214
JO - Cancer Causes & Control
JF - Cancer Causes & Control
IS - 2
ER -