Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on July 27, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwj247
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
164/6/538    most recent
kwj247v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Berg, G.
Right arrow Articles by Blettner, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Berg, G.
Right arrow Articles by Blettner, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
Received November 29, 2005
Accepted March 7, 2006

Original Contribution

Occupational Exposure to Radio Frequency/Microwave Radiation and the Risk of Brain Tumors: Interphone Study Group, Germany

Gabriele Berg 1 *, Jacob Spallek 1, Joachim Schüz 2, Brigitte Schlehofer 3, Eva Böhler 4, Klaus Schlaefer 3, Iris Hettinger 3, Katharina Kunna-Grass 1, Jürgen Wahrendorf 3, and Maria Blettner 5

1 Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
2 Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
3 Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
4 Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; Institute for Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
5 Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Gabriele Berg, E-mail: gabriele.berg{at}uni-bielefeld.de


  Abstract

It is still under debate whether occupational exposure to radio frequency/microwave electromagnetic fields (RF/MW-EMF) contributes to the development of brain tumors. This analysis examined the role of occupational RF/MW-EMF exposure in the risk of glioma and meningioma. A population-based, case-control study including 381 meningioma cases, 366 glioma cases, and 1,494 controls aged 30-69 years was performed in three German regions in 2000-2003. An exposure matrix for occupational activity was constructed by using information on RF/MW-EMF exposure collected in a computer-assisted personal interview. "High" exposure was defined as an occupational exposure that may exceed the RF/MW-EMF exposure limits for the general public recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Multiple conditional logistic regressions were performed separately for glioma and meningioma. No significant association between occupational exposure to RF/MW-EMF and brain tumors was found. For glioma, the adjusted odds ratio for highly exposed persons compared with persons not highly exposed was 1.21 (95% confidence interval: 0.69, 2.13); for meningioma, it was 1.34 (95% confidence interval: 0.64, 2.81). However, the slight increase in risk observed with increasing duration of exposure merits further research with larger sample sizes.

Keywords: brain neoplasms; case-control studies; electromagnetic fields; occupations; radiation.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.