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Scientific article
English

Exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from broadcast transmitters and risk of childhood cancer: a census-based cohort study

Contributors

Hauri, Dimitri D; Spycher, Ben; Huss, Anke; Zimmermann, Frank; Grotzer, Michael; von der Weid, Nicolas; Spoerri, Adrian; Kuehni, Claudia E; Röösli, Martin; Swiss paediatric oncology group

Collaborators

Ansari Djaberi, Marc Georges

Published in

American journal of epidemiology, vol. 179, no. 7, p. 843-851

Publication date

2014

Abstract

We investigated the association between exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) from broadcast transmitters and childhood cancer. First, we conducted a time-to-event analysis including children under age 16 years living in Switzerland on December 5, 2000. Follow-up lasted until December 31, 2008. Second, all children living in Switzerland for some time between 1985 and 2008 were included in an incidence density cohort. RF-EMF exposure from broadcast transmitters was modeled. Based on 997 cancer cases, adjusted hazard ratios in the time-to-event analysis for the highest exposure category (>0.2 V/m) as compared with the reference category (<0.05 V/m) were 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74, 1.43) for all cancers, 0.55 (95% CI: 0.26, 1.19) for childhood leukemia, and 1.68 (95% CI: 0.98, 2.91) for childhood central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Results of the incidence density analysis, based on 4,246 cancer cases, were similar for all types of cancer and leukemia but did not indicate a CNS tumor risk (incidence rate ratio = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.46). This large census-based cohort study did not suggest an association between predicted RF-EMF exposure from broadcasting and childhood leukemia. Results for CNS tumors were less consistent, but the most comprehensive analysis did not suggest an association.

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Central Nervous System Neoplasms/epidemiology/etiology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Environmental Exposure/adverse effects
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Leukemia/epidemiology/etiology
  • Male
  • Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced/epidemiology/etiology
  • Poisson Distribution
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prospective Studies
  • Radio Waves/adverse effects
  • Registries
  • Risk Assessment
  • Spatial Analysis
  • Switzerland/epidemiology
  • Time Factors

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

HAURI, Dimitri D et al. Exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from broadcast transmitters and risk of childhood cancer: a census-based cohort study. In: American journal of epidemiology, 2014, vol. 179, n° 7, p. 843–851. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwt442

Main files (1)

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

0002-9262
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Technical informations

Creation

18/03/2015 14:46:00

First validation

18/03/2015 14:46:00

Update

13/10/2025 21:34:30

Status update

14/03/2023 23:07:34

Last indexation

10/11/2026 17:16:11
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