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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on July 27, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology 2006 164(6):538-548; doi:10.1093/aje/kwj247
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American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.

Original Contribution

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

Gabriele Berg1, Jacob Spallek1, Joachim Schüz2,3, Brigitte Schlehofer4, Eva Böhler2,5, Klaus Schlaefer4, Iris Hettinger4, Katharina Kunna-Grass1, Jürgen Wahrendorf4 and Maria Blettner2

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
3 Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
4 Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
5 Institute for Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Correspondence to Dr. Gabriele Berg, Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, University of Bielefeld, P.O. 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany (e-mail: gabriele.berg{at}uni-bielefeld.de).

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.

brain neoplasms; case-control studies; electromagnetic fields; occupations; radiation

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RF/MW-EMF, radio frequency/microwave electromagnetic fields


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