Title
Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and cardiovascular disease mortality in a prospective cohort study
Author
Koeman, T.
Slottje, P.
Kromhout, H.
Schouten, L.J.
Goldbohm, R.A.
van den Brandt, P.A.
Vermeulen, R.
Publication year
2013
Abstract
Objectives Although a study among utility workers found an increased risk for acute myocardial infarction and arrhythmia-related deaths associated with occupational extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) exposure, later studies largely failed to replicate these findings. This study investigated the association between occupational ELF-MF exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality within a community-based prospective cohort study. Methods The Netherlands Cohort Study is a prospective cohort study among 120 852 men and women aged 55-69 years at baseline. Participants were followed-up for CVD mortality over a period of 10 years, resulting in 8200 CVD deaths. Information on occupational history and potential confounders, such as educational level, smoking and alcohol use were collected at baseline through a self-administered questionnaire. Occupational ELF-MF exposure was assigned using a job-exposure matrix. Associations with CVD mortality were analysed using Cox regression. Results Ever low or high exposure to ELF-MF showed no association with total CVD mortality (HR of 1.02, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.06), nor with any cause-specific subtypes of CVD mortality. Other ELF-MF exposure metrics showed no increased risks either. Conclusions In this study, we found no indication of an association between occupational ELF-MF exposure and risk of CVD mortality.
Subject
Human
LS - Life Style
BSS - Behavioural and Societal Sciences
Healthy for Life
Health
Healthy Living
Aged
Cardiovascular Diseases
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Magnetic Fields
Male
Middle Aged
Netherlands
Occupational Exposure
Occupations
Proportional Hazards Models
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4ebfe9cb-7828-4af7-b102-ff59efbdac4e
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2012-100889
TNO identifier
474988
ISSN
1351-0711
Source
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 70 (6), 402-407
Document type
article