Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and risk for central nervous system disease: an update of a Danish cohort study among utility workers.
Pedersen C, Poulsen AH, Rod NH, Frei P, Hansen J, Grell K, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Schüz J, Johansen C. · 2017
View Original AbstractUtility workers exposed to magnetic fields above 1.0 µT showed up to 78% higher rates of serious neurological diseases.
Plain English Summary
Danish researchers followed 32,006 utility workers for three decades, studying exposure to magnetic fields from power lines and electrical equipment. Workers with highest exposures showed 44% higher dementia rates and 78% higher motor neuron disease rates, suggesting occupational magnetic field exposure may increase neurological disease risk.
Why This Matters
This study represents one of the most comprehensive investigations into ELF magnetic field exposure and neurological disease to date. The researchers followed utility workers for nearly 30 years, creating a robust dataset that strengthens the case for EMF-related health effects. What makes these findings particularly concerning is that the highest exposure category (≥1.0 µT) represents levels commonly found near power lines and in some occupational settings. The 78% increase in motor neuron disease risk and 44% increase in dementia risk among the most exposed workers cannot be dismissed as statistical noise. While the confidence intervals for some findings include unity, the consistent pattern across multiple neurological conditions suggests a real biological effect. The reality is that this adds to a growing body of evidence linking EMF exposure to neurological harm, yet regulatory agencies continue to focus primarily on heating effects while ignoring these non-thermal biological impacts.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- < 0.0001, 0.0001-0.00099 and ≥ 0.001 mG
Exposure Context
This study used < 0.0001, 0.0001-0.00099 and ≥ 0.001 mG for magnetic fields:
- 5x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 1x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
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 Details
This study updates a previous study of the incidence of such diseases in a large cohort of Danish utility workers by almost doubling the period of follow-up.
We investigated the risks for dementia, motor neurone disease, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis...
For dementia, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy the incidence rate ratios (IRR) were close to unity, b...
We observed elevated risks of dementia, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy and lower risks of Parkinson disease in relation to exposure to ELF-MF in a large cohort of utility employees.
Show BibTeX
@article{c_2017_occupational_exposure_to_extremely_691,
author = {Pedersen C and Poulsen AH and Rod NH and Frei P and Hansen J and Grell K and Raaschou-Nielsen O and Schüz J and Johansen C.},
title = {Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and risk for central nervous system disease: an update of a Danish cohort study among utility workers.},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1007/s00420-017-1224-0},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00420-017-1224-0},
}