Electromagnetic Field Toxicology Reporter

Evaluation and Assessment of Extremely Low Frequency EMF Bioeffects
Volume 2, Number 2, June 2000

Epidemiologic Studies of Occupational EMF Exposures

by Robert B. Goldberg, Ph.D., Editor

Summary

We review a Scandinavian study which looked at female breast cancer in 1,177,129 actively-employed Norwegian women and followed up on them for 30 years. The researchers estimated the number of hours/week the women were potentially exposed to magnetic fields and additionally used occupational exposure categories based on magnetic field measurements obtained in a study of Swedish men at work. A second epidemiologic study from Norway examined the possible associations between cancer incidence and occupational exposures in workers at an aluminum smelter in western Norway that started production in 1948-1950. The study investigated associations between exposures to magnetic fields and cancers of the brain, lymphatic, and hematopoietic tissues. Magnetic field exposure estimates were based on a survey of other Norwegian aluminum smelters. A group at NIOSH examined the mortality patterns among electrical workers employed in the US construction industry, using the death benefit files of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and death certificates to identify all members who died between January 1, 1982 and December 31, 1987. There was a report addressing the possible relationship between working with video display terminals (VDTs) and the incidence of a range of visual, dermatological, and neurological problems. Finally, we follow up our discussion of VDTs with a review and discussion that addressed the issue of electrical hypersensitivity (EHS) in general, of which sensitivity to VDT emissions forms a prominent subcategory. [five pages, 8 references].

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