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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.

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Pedersen C, Poulsen AH, Rod NH, Frei P, Hansen J, Grell K, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Schüz J, Johansen C. · 2017

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A large Danish cohort study found elevated risks of dementia, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy among utility workers with the highest ELF-MF exposure, but lower risk of Parkinson disease.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers investigated risks for several central nervous system diseases among 32,006 men employed at 99 utility companies that supplied Denmark with electricity during 1900–1993. The cohort was followed during 1982–2010, and cases were identified in the Danish National Patient Registry. For the highest exposure level of 1.0 µT or more, incidence rate ratios of 1.44, 1.78, 1.40 and 1.34 were observed for dementia, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, respectively. Risk for Parkinson disease was lower among workers exposed to ≥0.1 µT compared with the Danish population (IRR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67–0.97).

Why This Matters

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. Exposure was estimated from a job-exposure matrix based on company records of job title and area of work, and cohort members were allocated to one of three categories. For dementia, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, incidence rate ratios were close to unity. The risk for motor neurone disease was higher among workers exposed to ≥0.1 µT compared with the Danish population (IRR 1.24, 95% CI 0.86–1.79).

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
< 0.0001, 0.0001-0.00099 and ≥ 0.001 mT

Exposure Context

This study used < 0.0001, 0.0001-0.00099 and ≥ 0.001 mT for magnetic fields:

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: < 0.0001, 0.0001-0.00099 and ≥ 0.001 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Severe Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 2,000 times higher than this level

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.

Cite This Study
Pedersen C, Poulsen AH, Rod NH, Frei P, Hansen J, Grell K, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Schüz J, Johansen C. (2017). 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. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2017 Apr 20. doi: 10.1007/s00420-017-1224-0.
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},
}
DOI: 10.1007/s00420-017-1224-0

Cited By (33 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

The study followed 32,006 men employed at 99 Danish utility companies, with the cohort followed during 1982–2010.
Exposure was estimated from a job-exposure matrix based on company records of job title and area of work, placing workers into one of three categories.
Parkinson disease risk was lower among workers exposed to ≥0.1 µT compared with the Danish population (IRR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67–0.97).
At the highest exposure level, elevated incidence rate ratios were observed for dementia (1.44), motor neurone disease (1.78), multiple sclerosis (1.40) and epilepsy (1.34).
This study updates a previous study of the same Danish utility worker cohort by almost doubling the period of follow-up.