[ OSH-Link Home
| IVI Online
| Comments ]
The possibility that a group of office personnel developed cancers due to strong magnetic fields emitted by a three transformer 12 kilovolt substation, located 14 floors below their office, was examined. Magnetic field readings taken in the office were as high as 190 milligauss (mG) at floor level, and 90mG four feet above the floor. After bus bars were lowered, the highest magnetic field levels were 32mG at the floor and 12mG at chair level; magnetic fields generally average 2mG or less in office buildings. A cohort of 243 men and 143 women employed between 1980 and 1994 were studied. Eight invasive cancers were observed, five in men and three in women, compared with 4.2 expected, giving a standardized incidence ratio of 190. Seven cancer cases occurred in workers employed two years or more. Limiting the cohort to those employed more than two years, five cancers were observed in men compared to 1.3 expected, and two cancers occurred in women compared to 0.5 expected. For both sexes, seven cancers were observed versus 1.8 expected, giving a standardized incidence ratio of 389. A positive trend of cancer cases with duration of employment was found for males and females. The cancers diagnosed in men included malignant astrocytoma, lymphoma, and malignant melanoma, and in women, breast cancer, colon cancer and malignant melanoma. The author concludes that cumulative magnetic field exposure could be of etiologic importance in the incidence of cancer in these workers.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 30(6):702-704, 1996. (9 references)
You can do a search of the OSH-DB database and get a list of articles on any topic of interest on our Visitor Search Page. Access to read the articles is limited to OSH-DB subscribers.