Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 2000 Aug 16;83(5):692–698. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.2000.1376

A pooled analysis of magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia

A Ahlbom 1, N Day 2, M Feychting 1, E Roman 3, J Skinner 2, J Dockerty 4, M Linet 5, M McBride 6, J Michaelis 7, J H Olsen 8, T Tynes 9, P K Verkasalo 10,11,12
PMCID: PMC2363518  PMID: 10944614

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested an association between exposure to 50–60 Hz magnetic fields (EMF) and childhood leukaemia. We conducted a pooled analysis based on individual records from nine studies, including the most recent ones. Studies with 24/48-hour magnetic field measurements or calculated magnetic fields were included. We specified which data analyses we planned to do and how to do them before we commenced the work. The use of individual records allowed us to use the same exposure definitions, and the large numbers of subjects enabled more precise estimation of risks at high exposure levels. For the 3203 children with leukaemia and 10 338 control children with estimated residential magnetic field exposures levels < 0.4 μT, we observed risk estimates near the no effect level, while for the 44 children with leukaemia and 62 control children with estimated residential magnetic field exposures ≥ 0.4 μT the estimated summary relative risk was 2.00 (1.27–3.13), P value = 0.002). Adjustment for potential confounding variables did not appreciably change the results. For North American subjects whose residences were in the highest wire code category, the estimated summary relative risk was 1.24 (0.82–1.87). Thus, we found no evidence in the combined data for the existence of the so-called wire-code paradox. In summary, the 99.2% of children residing in homes with exposure levels < 0.4 μT had estimates compatible with no increased risk, while the 0.8% of children with exposures ≥ 0.4 μT had a relative risk estimate of approximately 2, which is unlikely to be due to random variability. The explanation for the elevated risk is unknown, but selection bias may have accounted for some of the increase. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: EMF, cancer, childhood leukaemia, meta-analysis, pooled analysis, epidemiology

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (72.2 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hyponatremic seizures among infants fed with commercial bottled drinking water--Wisconsin, 1993. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1994 Sep 9;43(35):641–643. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dockerty J. D., Elwood J. M., Skegg D. C., Herbison G. P. Electromagnetic field exposures and childhood cancers in New Zealand. Cancer Causes Control. 1998 May;9(3):299–309. doi: 10.1023/a:1008825220759. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Feychting M., Ahlbom A. Magnetic fields and cancer in children residing near Swedish high-voltage power lines. Am J Epidemiol. 1993 Oct 1;138(7):467–481. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116881. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Green L. M., Miller A. B., Agnew D. A., Greenberg M. L., Li J., Villeneuve P. J., Tibshirani R. Childhood leukemia and personal monitoring of residential exposures to electric and magnetic fields in Ontario, Canada. Cancer Causes Control. 1999 Jun;10(3):233–243. doi: 10.1023/a:1008919408855. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Green L. M., Miller A. B., Villeneuve P. J., Agnew D. A., Greenberg M. L., Li J., Donnelly K. E. A case-control study of childhood leukemia in southern Ontario, Canada, and exposure to magnetic fields in residences. Int J Cancer. 1999 Jul 19;82(2):161–170. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19990719)82:2<161::aid-ijc2>3.0.co;2-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hatch E. E., Kleinerman R. A., Linet M. S., Tarone R. E., Kaune W. T., Auvinen A., Baris D., Robison L. L., Wacholder S. Do confounding or selection factors of residential wiring codes and magnetic fields distort findings of electromagnetic fields studies? Epidemiology. 2000 Mar;11(2):189–198. doi: 10.1097/00001648-200003000-00019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. McBride M. L., Gallagher R. P., Thériault G., Armstrong B. G., Tamaro S., Spinelli J. J., Deadman J. E., Fincham S., Robson D., Choi W. Power-frequency electric and magnetic fields and risk of childhood leukemia in Canada. Am J Epidemiol. 1999 May 1;149(9):831–842. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009899. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Michaelis J., Schüz J., Meinert R., Zemann E., Grigat J. P., Kaatsch P., Kaletsch U., Miesner A., Brinkmann K., Kalkner W. Combined risk estimates for two German population-based case-control studies on residential magnetic fields and childhood acute leukemia. Epidemiology. 1998 Jan;9(1):92–94. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Olsen J. H., Nielsen A., Schulgen G. Residence near high voltage facilities and risk of cancer in children. BMJ. 1993 Oct 9;307(6909):891–895. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6909.891. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tynes T., Haldorsen T. Electromagnetic fields and cancer in children residing near Norwegian high-voltage power lines. Am J Epidemiol. 1997 Feb 1;145(3):219–226. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009094. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Verkasalo P. K., Pukkala E., Hongisto M. Y., Valjus J. E., Järvinen P. J., Heikkilä K. V., Koskenvuo M. Risk of cancer in Finnish children living close to power lines. BMJ. 1993 Oct 9;307(6909):895–899. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6909.895. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Wertheimer N., Leeper E. Adult cancer related to electrical wires near the home. Int J Epidemiol. 1982 Dec;11(4):345–355. doi: 10.1093/ije/11.4.345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Wertheimer N., Leeper E. Electrical wiring configurations and childhood cancer. Am J Epidemiol. 1979 Mar;109(3):273–284. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112681. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES