It is now twenty years since Wertheimer and Leeper (1979) published the first study suggesting an association between residential exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (EMF) and childhood cancer. Ever since, this has been a controversial issue with the findings from several, but not all, subsequent epidemiological studies being consistent with an association, particularly with respect to residential exposure and childhood leukaemia (Portier and Wolfe, 1998). However, many of the reports have been based on small numbers of exposed cases, and despite intense experimental research no known biophysical mechanism to explain an effect has been established.We conducted a pooled analysis based on primary data from nine studies on EMF and childhood leukaemia, addressing three specific questions:1. Do the combined results of these studies indicate that there is an association between EMF exposure and childhood leukaemia risk, which is larger than one would expect from random variability?2. Does adjustment for confounding from socioeconomic class, mobility, level of urbanization, detached/not detached dwelling, and level of traffic exhaust change the results? 3. Do the combined data support the existence of the so-called wire code paradox, that is, a stronger association between proxy measures of EMF and cancer than between direct measurements and cancer? METHODSThe original plan for this project was to include all European studies that addressed the question of an association between EMF and childhood leukaemia and were based on either 24 or 48 hour magnetic field measurements or calculated fields. At the time five such studies were reported (Feychting and Ahlbom, 1993; Olsen et al, 1993;Verkasalo et al, 1993;Tynes and Haldorsen, 1997;Michaelis et al, 1998). In addition, a nationwide childhood cancer study was in progress and near completion in the UK (UKCCS, 1999). Since we were not aware of any other European study to be published in the near future, the inclusion of the UK study would give us a complete set of European studies. We felt that if we could also incorporate new studies from non-European countries this pooled analysis would be up to date and presumably stay current for several years. We were aware of three more studies in other parts of the world with compatible information that were all nearly A pooled analysis of magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia Summary Previous studies have suggested an association between exposure to 50-60 Hz magnetic fields (EMF) and childhood leukaemia. We conducted a pooled analysis based on individual records from nine studies, including the most recent ones. Studies with 24/48-hour magnetic field measurements or calculated magnetic fields were included. We specified which data analyses we planned to do and how to do them before we commenced the work. The use of individual records allowed us to use the same exposure definitions, and the large numbers of subjects enabled more precise estimation of risks at high exposure levels. For the 3203 children with leukae...

PurposeTo give a systematic review of the development of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in working life.MethodsA literature search in MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Health and Safety Abstracts, with appropriate keywords on noise in the workplace and health, revealed 22,413 articles which were screened by six researchers. A total of 698 articles were reviewed in full text and scored with a checklist, and 187 articles were found to be relevant and of sufficient quality for further analysis.ResultsOccupational noise exposure causes between 7 and 21 % of the hearing loss among workers, lowest in the industrialized countries, where the incidence is going down, and highest in the developing countries. It is difficult to distinguish between NIHL and age-related hearing loss at an individual level. Most of the hearing loss is age related. Men lose hearing more than women do. Heredity also plays a part. Socioeconomic position, ethnicity and other factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, vibration and chemical substances, may also affect hearing. The use of firearms may be harmful to hearing, whereas most other sources of leisure-time noise seem to be less important. Impulse noise seems to be more deleterious to hearing than continuous noise. Occupational groups at high risk of NIHL are the military, construction workers, agriculture and others with high noise exposure.ConclusionThe prevalence of NIHL is declining in most industrialized countries, probably due to preventive measures. Hearing loss is mainly related to increasing age.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00420-015-1083-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifiBaruch Modan is deceased. 123Eur J Epidemiol (2007) 22: 647-664 DOI 10.1007/s10654-007-9152-z cally, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours. The study was conducted in 13 countries. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK using a common core protocol. This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population. INTERPHONE is the largest case-control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2,765 glioma, 2,425 meningioma, 1,121 acoustic neurinoma, 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7,658 controls. Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results.

There is public concern that use of mobile phones could increase the risk of brain tumours. If such an effect exists, acoustic neuroma would be of particular concern because of the proximity of the acoustic nerve to the handset. We conducted, to a shared protocol, six population-based case -control studies in four Nordic countries and the UK to assess the risk of acoustic neuroma in relation to mobile phone use. Data were collected by personal interview from 678 cases of acoustic neuroma and 3553 controls. The risk of acoustic neuroma in relation to regular mobile phone use in the pooled data set was not raised (odds ratio (OR) ¼ 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7 -1.1). There was no association of risk with duration of use, lifetime cumulative hours of use or number of calls, for phone use overall or for analogue or digital phones separately. Risk of a tumour on the same side of the head as reported phone use was raised for use for 10 years or longer (OR ¼ 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1 -3.1). The study suggests that there is no substantial risk of acoustic neuroma in the first decade after starting mobile phone use. However, an increase in risk after longer term use or after a longer lag period could not be ruled out.