Epidemiological study

Associations of Electric Shock and Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure With the Risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: The Euro-MOTOR Project epidem.

By: Peters S, Visser AE, D'Ovidio F, Beghi E, Chiò A, Logroscino G, Hardiman O, Kromhout H, Huss A, Veldink J, Vermeulen R, van den Berg LH

Published in: Am J Epidemiol 2019; 188 (4): 796-805

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Assessment

questionnaire: job title, industry, employer, year of starting and stopping employment, and hours worked per week for each job ever held
job exposure matrix

Exposure groups

Group	Description
Reference group 1	extremely low frequency magnetic fields: never exposed above background level
Group 2	extremely low frequency magnetic fields: ever exposed above background level
Reference group 3	duration of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: background level
Group 4	duration of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: < 5 years
Group 5	duration of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 5 - 11 years
Group 6	duration of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 12 - 30 years
Group 7	duration of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: > 30 years
Reference group 8	cumulative exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: background level
Group 9	cumulative exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: < 5 unit-years
Group 10	cumulative exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 15 - 33 unit-years
Group 11	cumulative exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: > 33 unit-years
Reference group 12	time since last exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: background level
Group 13	time since last exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 3 - 4 years
Group 14	time since last exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 5 - 17 years
Group 15	time since last exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: 18 - 38 years
Group 16	time since last exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields: > 38 years
Reference group 17	electric shocks: never exposed above background level
Group 18	electric shocks: ever exposed above background level
Reference group 19	electric shocks, duration of exposure: background level
Group 20	electric shocks, duration of exposure: < 6 years
Group 21	electric shocks, duration of exposure: 6 - 16 years
Group 22	electric shocks, duration of exposure: 17 - 37 years
Group 23	electric shocks, duration of exposure: > 37 years
Reference group 24	electric shocks, cumulative exposure: background level
Group 25	electric shocks, cumulative exposure: < 9 unit-years
Group 26	electric shocks, cumulative exposure: 9 - 29 unit-years
Group 27	electric shocks, cumulative exposure: 30 - 70 unit-years
Group 28	electric shocks, cumulative exposure: > 70 unit-years
Reference group 29	electric shocks, time since last exposure: background level
Group 30	electric shocks, time since last exposure: 3 - 4 years
Group 31	electric shocks, time since last exposure: 5 - 16 years
Group 32	electric shocks, time since last exposure: 17 - 34 years
Group 33	electric shocks, time since last exposure: > 34 years

Population

Group:
- men
- women
Observation period: 2010 - 2015
Study location: Ireland, Italy and Netherlands

Case group

Data source: Euro-MOTOR project

Control group

Matching:
- sex
- age
- area

Study size

	Cases	Controls
Evaluable	1,323	2,704

Statistical analysis method:

logistic regression

(adjustment:

age
sex
education
smoking status, alcohol consumption and study center; respective other exposure (ELF-MF or electric shocks) in 2-exposure models; other occupational exposure (gases and fumes, metals, mineral dust, pesticides, solvents)

)

Results (acc. to author)

Both ever having had exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields above the background level (group 2: OR 1.16, CI 1.01-1.33) and ever having had potential exposure above background for electric shocks (group 4: OR 1.23, CI 1.05-1.43) were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in comparison to the reference groups 1 resp. 3. Adjustment for the respective other exposure resulted in similar risk estimates. Heterogeneity in risks across study centers was significant for both exposures.
The authors conclude that the findings support possible independent associations of occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and electric shocks with the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Study funded by

European Union (EU)/European Commission
Stichting ALS Nederland (The Netherlands ALS Foundation), The Netherlands

Comments on this article

Su L et al. (2019): RE: "Associations of Electric Shock and Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure With the Risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis"

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