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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 155, No. 12 : 1096-1103
Copyright © 2002 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Adult and Childhood Leukemia near a High-Power Radio Station in Rome, Italy

Paola Michelozzi1, Alessandra Capon2, Ursula Kirchmayer1, Francesco Forastiere1, Annibale Biggeri3, Alessandra Barca2 and Carlo A. Perucci1

Department of Epidemiology, Local Health Authority RME, Rome, Italy.
Agency for Public Health, Lazio, Italy.
Department of Statistics, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Some recent epidemiologic studies suggest an association between lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers and residential exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz) generated by radio and television transmitters. Vatican Radio is a very powerful station located in a northern suburb of Rome, Italy. In the 10-km area around the station, with 49,656 residents (in 1991), leukemia mortality among adults (aged >14 years; 40 cases) in 1987–1998 and childhood leukemia incidence (eight cases) in 1987–1999 were evaluated. The risk of childhood leukemia was higher than expected for the distance up to 6 km from the radio station (standardized incidence rate = 2.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.0, 4.1), and there was a significant decline in risk with increasing distance both for male mortality (p = 0.03) and for childhood leukemia (p = 0.036). The study has limitations because of the small number of cases and the lack of exposure data. Although the study adds evidence of an excess of leukemia in a population living near high-power radio transmitters, no causal implication can be drawn. There is still insufficient scientific knowledge, and new epidemiologic studies are needed to clarify a possible leukemogenic effect of residential exposure to radio frequency radiation.

child; geography; incidence; leukemia; mortality; radio

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk; SIR, standardized incidence ratio; SMR, standardized mortality ratio


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