What have studies shown about possible associations between non-ionizing EMFs and cancer in adults?
Many studies have examined the association between non-ionizing EMF exposure and cancer in adults, of which few studies have reported evidence of increased risk (1).
Residential exposures. The majority of epidemiologic studies have shown no relationship between
breast cancer in women and exposure to extremely low frequency EMFs (ELF-EMFs) in the home (
41–
44), although a few individual studies have suggested an association; only one reported results that were
statistically significant (
45).
Workplace exposures to ELF radiation. Several studies conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s reported that people who worked in some electrical occupations that exposed them to ELF radiation (such as power station operators and telephone line workers) had higher-than-expected rates of some types of cancer, particularly
leukemia,
brain tumors, and
male breast cancer (
12). Most of the results were based on participants’ job titles and not on actual measurements of their exposures. More recent studies, including some that considered exposure measurements as well as job titles, have generally not shown an increasing risk of leukemia, brain tumors, or female breast cancer with increasing exposure to magnetic fields at work (
45–
50).
Workplace exposures to radiofrequency radiation. A limited number of studies have evaluated risks of cancer in workers exposed to radiofrequency radiation. A large study of U.S. Navy personnel found no excess of brain tumors among those with a high probability of exposure to radar (including electronics technicians, aviation technicians, and fire control technicians); however, nonlymphocytic leukemia, particularly
acute myeloid leukemia, was increased in electronics technicians in aviation squadrons, but not in Navy personnel in the other job categories (
51). A
case-control study among U.S. Air Force personnel found the suggestion of an increased risk of brain cancer among personnel who maintained or repaired radiofrequency or microwave-emitting equipment (
52). A case-control study found the suggestion of an increased risk of death from brain cancer among men occupationally exposed to microwave and/or radiofrequency radiation, with all of the excess risk among workers in electrical and electronics jobs involving design, manufacture, repair, or installation of electrical or electronics equipment (
53). There was no evidence that electrical utility workers who were exposed to pulsed electromagnetic fields produced by power lines were more likely to develop brain tumors or leukemia than the general population (
54). Employees of a large manufacturer of wireless communication products were not more likely to die from brain tumors or cancers of the
hematopoietic or
lymphatic system than the general population (
55). A large
prospective study among police officers in Great Britain found no evidence for an association between radiofrequency EMF exposure from personal radio use and the risk of all cancers combined (
56).
