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

Cancer Causes Control · 2015 · No effect · Moderate evidence

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No effectModerate evidencePaper 2727

In 5,409 AML cases and 27,045 matched controls, no association was observed between occupational ELF magnetic field exposure or risk of electrical shocks and AML. For high ELF-MF exposure vs background, HR=0.88 (95% CI 0.77–1.01); for high electrical shock ri…

Study snapshot

PublicationCancer Causes Control · 2015
Study typecase_control
Reported directionNo effect
Evidence ratingModerate

Abstract

Objective: We studied the association between occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and electrical shocks and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the Nordic Occupational Cancer cohort (NOCCA). Methods: We included 5,409 adult AML cases diagnosed between 1961 and 2005 in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and 27,045 controls matched by age, sex, and country. Lifetime occupational ELF-MF exposure and risk of electrical shocks were assigned to jobs reported in the censuses using job-exposure matrices. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) using conditional logistic regression adjusted for concurrent occupational exposures relevant for AML risk (e.g., benzene, ionizing radiation). We conducted sensitivity analyses with different assumptions to assess the robustness of our results. Results: Approximately 40 % of the subjects were ever occupationally exposed to low levels and 7 % to high levels of ELF-MF, whereas 18 % were ever at low risk and 15 % at high risk of electrical shocks. We did not observe an association between occupational exposure to neither ELF-MF nor electrical shocks and AML. The HR was 0.88 (95 % CI 0.77-1.01) for subjects with high levels of ELF-MF exposure and 0.94 (95 % CI 0.85-1.05) for subjects with high risk of electrical shocks as compared to those with background-level exposure. Results remained materially unchanged in sensitivity analyses with different assumptions. Conclusion: Our results do not support an association between occupational ELF-MF or electric shock exposure and AML.

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typecase_control
Effect directionno_effect
PopulationAdults in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (Nordic Occupational Cancer cohort; NOCCA)
Sample size32454
ExposureELF · lifetime occupational exposure (jobs from censuses; AML diagnoses 1961–2005)
Evidence strengthModerateConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

In 5,409 AML cases and 27,045 matched controls, no association was observed between occupational ELF magnetic field exposure or risk of electrical shocks and AML. For high ELF-MF exposure vs background, HR=0.88 (95% CI 0.77–1.01); for high electrical shock risk vs background, HR=0.94 (95% CI 0.85–1.05). Sensitivity analyses did not materially change results.

Outcomes measured

  • Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Limitations

  • Exposure and electrical shock risk assigned via job-exposure matrices based on census job titles (potential exposure misclassification).
  • Abstract does not report absolute exposure levels/metrics beyond low/high categories.
  • Residual confounding possible despite adjustment for concurrent occupational exposures (e.g., benzene, ionizing radiation).
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "case_control",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "ELF",
    "source": "occupational",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "lifetime occupational exposure (jobs from censuses; AML diagnoses 1961–2005)"
  },
  "population": "Adults in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (Nordic Occupational Cancer cohort; NOCCA)",
  "sample_size": 32454,
  "outcomes": [
    "Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In 5,409 AML cases and 27,045 matched controls, no association was observed between occupational ELF magnetic field exposure or risk of electrical shocks and AML. For high ELF-MF exposure vs background, HR=0.88 (95% CI 0.77–1.01); for high electrical shock risk vs background, HR=0.94 (95% CI 0.85–1.05). Sensitivity analyses did not materially change results.",
  "effect_direction": "no_effect",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure and electrical shock risk assigned via job-exposure matrices based on census job titles (potential exposure misclassification).",
    "Abstract does not report absolute exposure levels/metrics beyond low/high categories.",
    "Residual confounding possible despite adjustment for concurrent occupational exposures (e.g., benzene, ionizing radiation)."
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "moderate",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "extremely low-frequency magnetic fields",
    "ELF-MF",
    "occupational exposure",
    "electrical shocks",
    "acute myeloid leukemia",
    "AML",
    "NOCCA",
    "job-exposure matrix",
    "Nordic countries"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.95,
      "reason": "Study evaluates occupational ELF-MF exposure and electrical shock risk in relation to AML across Nordic countries."
    }
  ]
}
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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1007/s10552-015-0600-x
PubMed: 25971677

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