Leukemia and brain tumors in Norwegian railway workers, a nested case-control study

Abstract

In an attempt to assess whether exposure to electromagnetic fields on Norwegian railways induces brain tumors or leukemia, the authors conducted a nested case-control study of railway workers based on incident cases from the Cancer Registry of Norway in a cohort of 13,030 male Norwegian railway workers who had worked on either electric or non-electric railways. The cohort comprised railway line, outdoor station, and electricity workers. The case series comprised 39 men with brain tumors and 52 men with leukemia (follow-up, 1958-1990). Each case was matched on age with four or five controls selected from the same cohort. The exposure of each study subject to electric and magnetic fields was evaluated from cumulative exposure measures based on present measurements and historical data. Limited information on potential confounders such as creosote, solvents, and herbicides was also collected; information on whether the subject had smoked was obtained by interviews with the subjects or work colleagues. The case-control analysis showed that men employed on electric railways, compared with non-electric ones, had an odds ratio for leukemia of 0.70 (adjusted for smoking) and an odds ratio for brain tumor of 0.87. No significant trend was shown for exposure to either magnetic or electric fields. These results do not support an association between exposure to 16 2/3-Hertz electric or magnetic fields and the risk for leukemia or brain tumors.