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. 2025 Dec 1;286(Pt 2):122858.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.122858. Epub 2025 Sep 14.

Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and radiofrequency: Risk of childhood CNS tumors in a city with elevated ELF-MF exposure

Víctor Correa-Correa  1 , Juan Carlos Núñez-Enríquez  2 , Gabor Mezei  3 , Roberto Rivera-Luna  4 , José Gabriel Peñaloza-González  5 , Salvador Daniel Rivas-Carrillo  6 , Cuauhtémoc Gil Ortiz-Mejía  7 , Claudia Flores-Robles  8 , Erick Velasco-Ramírez  8 , Mario Alexis Del Real-Gallegos  8 , Janet Flores-Lujano  9 , Fernanda Valeria Flores-Pérez  10 , Gerardo Sánchez-Rodríguez  11 , Alma Griselda Ramírez-Reyes  11 , Enrique López-Aguilar  12 , David Aldebarán Duarte-Rodríguez  13 , Susana Anaya-López  14 , Maria Luisa Pérez-Saldívar  9 , Fernando Chico-Ponce-de-León  15 , Silvia Jimenez-Morales  16 , Vicente González-Carranza  15 , Minerva Mata-Rocha  17 , Alfonso Marhx-Bracho  18 , Haydeé Rosas-Vargas  19 , Arturo Hermilo Godoy-Esquivel  20 , Jesús García-Cortés  21 , Oscar Delgadillo-Bono  22 , Gregorio Jaimes  23 , Joselyn Ramírez-Marroquín  24 , Patricia Flores-Galicia  25 , Claudia Contreras-Frias  26 , Ures Eduardo Campos-Rodríguez  11 , Eli Hernández-Chávez  1 , Jorge Meléndez-Zajgla  27 , Aurora Medina-Sanson  28 , Juan Manuel Mejía-Aranguré  29
Affiliations

Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and radiofrequency: Risk of childhood CNS tumors in a city with elevated ELF-MF exposure

Víctor Correa-Correa et al. Environ Res. .

Erratum in

  • Erratum to "Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and radiofrequency: Risk of childhood CNS tumors in a city with elevated ELF-MF exposure" [Environ. Res. Volume 286, Part 2, 1 December 2025, 122858].
    Correa-Correa V, Núñez-Enríquez JC, Mezei G, Rivera-Luna R, Peñaloza-González JG, Rivas-Carrillo SD, Ortiz-Mejía CG, Flores-Robles C, Velasco-Ramírez E, Alexis Del Real-Gallegos M, Flores-Lujano J, Flores-Pérez FV, Sánchez-Rodríguez G, Ramírez-Reyes AG, López-Aguilar E, Duarte-Rodríguez DA, Anaya-López S, Pérez-Saldívar ML, Chico-Ponce-de-León F, Jimenez-Morales S, González-Carranza V, Mata-Rocha M, Marhx-Bracho A, Rosas-Vargas H, Godoy-Esquivel AH, García-Cortés J, Delgadillo-Bono O, Jaimes G, Ramírez-Marroquín J, Flores-Galicia P, Contreras-Frias C, Campos-Rodríguez UE, Hernández-Chávez E, Meléndez-Zajgla J, Medina-Sanson A, Mejía-Aranguré JM. Correa-Correa V, et al. Environ Res. 2025 Dec 1;286(Pt 3):123001. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.123001. Epub 2025 Oct 3. Environ Res. 2025. PMID: 41045572 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Background: Central nervous system tumors (CNSTs) are the second most common childhood cancer. While their etiology is unclear, exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and radiofrequency (RF) may be associated with increased risk. This study aims to examine the relationship between ELF-MF and RF exposure and CNST risk in Mexico City's pediatric population.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Mexico City (2017-2022), to assess ELF-MF and RF exposure in 200 CNST patients and 793 controls under 16 years old. Residential ELF-MF exposure was measured over 24 h, and RF exposure was assessed through the total duration of cell phone calls and electronic device usage (with and without internet). ELF-MF exposure levels below 0.1 μT and the lowest RF exposure quartile (Q1) served as reference groups for adjusted odds ratio (aOR) analyses. Data analysis was performed using R and SPSS software.

Results: Of all participants, 5.1 % had ELF-MF exposure ≥0.3 μT. Elevated ELF-MF exposure (≥0.4 μT) was significantly associated with an increased risk of CNST (aOR (95 % confidence interval) = 2.39 (1.15-5.00). While cell phone use showed no differences between cases and controls, prolonged tablet use (with and without internet) was significantly associated with increased CNST risk (aOR = 2.53 (1.39-4.61), and 3.53 (1.45-8.59), respectively).

Conclusion: A high proportion of children in Mexico City are exposed to ELF-MF levels ≥0.3 μT, exceeding levels reported in other populations. Elevated residential ELF-MF exposure, as well as prolonged tablet use, both with and without internet connectivity, were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing CNST in childhood.

Keywords: Cancer; Case–control study; Children; Environmental factors; Etiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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