title: Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and cardiovascular disease mortality in a prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors: Environmental Epidemiology Division, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Koeman
authors: Pauline
authors: P
authors: Slottje
authors: Hans
authors: H
authors: Kromhout
authors: Leo J
authors: LJ
authors: Schouten
authors: R Alexandra
authors: RA
authors: Goldbohm
authors: Piet A
authors: PA
authors: van den Brandt
authors: Roel
authors: R
authors: Vermeulen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D060526:Magnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009790:Occupations; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors