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Cancer & Tumors209 citations

Cancer incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers.

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Hocking B, Gordon IR, Grain HL, Hatfield GE · 1997

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An ecological study found an association between living near TV towers and increased childhood leukaemia incidence and mortality.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers compared cancer incidence and mortality from 1972 to 1990 in nine municipalities, three of which surround TV towers and six of which are further away. Among children, the rate ratio for leukaemia incidence was 1.58 and for mortality it was 2.32. Brain cancer incidence and mortality were not increased. The researchers found an association between increased childhood leukaemia incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers.

Why This Matters

The study was designed to determine whether there is an increased cancer incidence and mortality in populations exposed to radiofrequency radiations from TV towers. The calculated power density of the radiofrequency radiation in the exposed area ranged from 8.0 microW/cm2 near the towers to 0.2 microW/cm2 at a radius of 4km and 0.02 microW/cm2 at 12 km. For all ages, the rate ratio for total leukaemia incidence was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.09-1.40). The rate ratio for childhood lymphatic leukaemia was 1.55 for incidence and 2.74 for mortality.

Exposure Details

Power Density
0.00002, 0.0002, 0.008 mW/cm²

Exposure Context

This study used 0.00002, 0.0002, 0.008 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.

Where This Falls on the Concern Scale

Study Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.00002, 0.0002, 0.008 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Severe Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 50,000 times higher than this level

Study Details

To determine whether there is an increased cancer incidence and mortality in populations exposed to radiofrequency radiations from TV towers.

An ecological study comparing cancer incidence and mortality, 1972-1990, in nine municipalities, thr...

For all ages, the rate ratio for total leukaemia incidence was 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1...

We found an association between increased childhood leukaemia incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers.

Cite This Study
Hocking B, Gordon IR, Grain HL, Hatfield GE (1997). Cancer incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers. Med J Aust 165(11-12):601-605, 1996. (Published erratum appears in Med J Aust 166(2):80, 1997.
Show BibTeX
@article{b_1997_cancer_incidence_and_mortality_1029,
  author = {Hocking B and Gordon IR and Grain HL and Hatfield GE},
  title = {Cancer incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers.},
  year = {1997},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8985435/},
}
PubMed: 8985435

Cited By (209 papers)

View all 209 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

This was an ecological study comparing cancer incidence and mortality from 1972 to 1990 in nine municipalities.
Among children, the rate ratio for leukaemia incidence was 1.58 (95% CI, 1.07-2.34).
Brain cancer incidence and mortality were not increased.
The calculated power density ranged from 8.0 microW/cm2 near the towers to 0.2 microW/cm2 at a radius of 4km and 0.02 microW/cm2 at 12 km.
The researchers found an association between increased childhood leukaemia incidence and mortality and proximity to TV towers.