Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and cardiovascular disease mortality in a prospective cohort study

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 70; no. 6; pp. 402 - 407
• Main Authors: Koeman, Tom, Slottje, Pauline, Kromhout, Hans, Schouten, Leo J, Goldbohm, R Alexandra, van den Brandt, Piet A, Vermeulen, Roel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.06.2013; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Aged; Atherosclerosis; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality; Chemical vapor deposition; Cigarette smoking; Cigarettes; Cohort analysis; Cohort studies; Death; Dysrhythmias; Effects of various physical factors on living matter (vibrations, electric field, ultrasound, sound...); Exposure; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart attacks; Humans; Ischemia; Life tables; Magnetic fields; Magnetic Fields - adverse effects; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mortality; Myocardial infarction; Myocardial ischemia; Netherlands - epidemiology; Occupational; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational medicine; Occupations; Population; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Questionnaires; Risk; Risk Factors; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; Workplace; Netherlands; Europe; Human; Follow up study; Cohort study; Extremely low frequency; Mortality; Cardiovascular disease; Occupational exposure; Epidemiology; Magnetic field; Occupational medicine; Public health
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2012-100889

Objectives Although a study among utility workers found an increased risk for acute myocardial infarction and arrhythmia-related deaths associated with occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) exposure, later studies largely failed to replicate these findings. This study investigated the association between occupational ELF-MF exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality within a community-based prospective cohort study. Methods The Netherlands Cohort Study is a prospective cohort study among 120 852 men and women aged 55–69 years at baseline. Participants were followed-up for CVD mortality over a period of 10 years, resulting in 8200 CVD deaths. Information on occupational history and potential confounders, such as educational level, smoking and alcohol use were collected at baseline through a self-administered questionnaire. Occupational ELF-MF exposure was assigned using a job-exposure matrix. Associations with CVD mortality were analysed using Cox regression. Results Ever low or high exposure to ELF-MF showed no association with total CVD mortality (HR of 1.02, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.06), nor with any cause-specific subtypes of CVD mortality. Other ELF-MF exposure metrics showed no increased risks either. Conclusions In this study, we found no indication of an association between occupational ELF-MF exposure and risk of CVD mortality.