title: Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and heart disease.
abstract: The biologically based hypothesis that magnetic fields increase the risk of conditions related to cardiac arrhythmia and acute myocardial infarction but not chronic cardiovascular disease was initially supported by the results of an epidemiologic study. High rates of cardiovascular disease and relatively common exposure to magnetic fields made it an important public health question. Most of the epidemiologic studies that followed showed no effect. In this paper the basis for both this hypothesis and the epidemiologic studies that tested it are presented. It was concluded that the evidence speaks against an etiologic relation between exposure to electric and magnetic fields and cardiovascular disease. This effort represents an interesting case study of a scientific inquiry that has been successfully resolved despite numerous methodological difficulties inherent in research on low-level environmental exposures.
authors.affiliation: UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, 73-284 CHS, 650 Charles E Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA. kheifets@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Leeka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kheifets
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahlbom
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feychting
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sahl
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Savitz
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D015984:Causality; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design