American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 132, No. 2: 293-303
Copyright © 1990 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
research-article |
INCIDENCE OF LEUKEMIA IN OCCUPATIONS WITH POTENTIAL ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD EXPOSURE IN UNITED STATES NAVY PERSONNEL
1Epidemiology Department, Naval Health Research Center San Diego, CA
2Department of Community and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA
3Cancer Center Epidemiology Program, University of California San Diego San Diego, CA
Reprint requests to Dr. Frank C. Garland, Epidemiology Department, Naval Health Research Center, P. O. Box 85122, San Diego, CA 92186-5122
Leukemia is the fourth most commonly occurring cancer in the United States population between the ages of 17 and 34 years, an age group heavily represented in the US Navy. Historical computerized military career records maintained at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, were used to determine person-years at risk (total, 4,072,502 person-years) by demographic characteristics and occupation for active-duty naval personnel during 1974–1984. Computerized inpatient medical records were searched for first hospitalizations for leukemia. Cases of leukemia (n=102) were verified by using pathology reports or Navy Medical Board or Physical Evaluation Board findings. For comparisons, age-adjusted incidence rates and standardized incidence ratios were calculated by using rates for the US population provided by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. The overall age-adjusted incidence rate of leukemia in active-duty naval personnel was found to be very close to that of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program population (6.0 vs. 6.5 per 100,000 person-years). Only one occupation, electrician's mate, emerged with a borderline statistically significant excess risk of leukemia (standardized incidence ratio compared with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program population=2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.0–5.0). This finding Is intriguing in the light of several studies showing an excess risk of leukemia associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields.
electromagnetics; leukemia; military personnel; occupations
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  E. D. Gorham, C. F. Garland, F. C. Garland, K. Kaiser, W. D. Travis, and J. A. Centeno Trends and Occupational Associations in Incidence of Hospitalized Pulmonary Sarcoidosis and Other Lung Diseases in Navy Personnel: A 27-Year Historical Prospective Study, 1975-2001 Chest, November 1, 2004; 126(5): 1431 - 1438. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E V Willett, P A McKinney, N T Fear, R A Cartwright, and E Roman Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and acute leukaemia: analysis of a case-control study Occup. Environ. Med., August 1, 2003; 60(8): 577 - 583. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. D. Groves, W. F. Page, G. Gridley, L. Lisimaque, P. A. Stewart, R. E. Tarone, M. H. Gail, J. D. Boice Jr, and G. W. Beebe Cancer in Korean War Navy Technicians: Mortality Survey after 40 Years Am. J. Epidemiol., May 1, 2002; 155(9): 810 - 818. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. C. Gray, B. D. Coate, C. M. Anderson, H. K. Kang, S. W. Berg, F. S. Wignall, J. D. Knoke, and E. Barrett-Connor The Postwar Hospitalization Experience of U.S. Veterans of the Persian Gulf War N. Engl. J. Med., November 14, 1996; 335(20): 1505 - 1513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|