title: Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and risk of childhood leukemia: A risk assessment by the ARIMMORA consortium.
abstract: Exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) was evaluated in an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" in 2001, based on increased childhood leukemia risk observed in epidemiological studies. We conducted a hazard assessment using available scientific evidence published before March 2015, with inclusion of new research findings from the Advanced Research on Interaction Mechanisms of electroMagnetic exposures with Organisms for Risk Assessment (ARIMMORA) project. The IARC Monograph evaluation scheme was applied to hazard identification. In ARIMMORA for the first time, a transgenic mouse model was used to mimic the most common childhood leukemia: new pathogenic mechanisms were indicated, but more data are needed to draw definitive conclusions. Although experiments in different animal strains showed exposure-related decreases of CD8+ T-cells, a role in carcinogenesis must be further established. No direct damage of DNA by exposure was observed. Overall in the literature, there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals, with only weak supporting evidence from mechanistic studies. New exposure data from ARIMMORA confirmed that if the association is nevertheless causal, up to 2% of childhood leukemias in Europe, as previously estimated, may be attributable to ELF-MF. In summary, ARIMMORA concludes that the relationship between ELF-MF and childhood leukemia remains consistent with possible carcinogenicity in humans. While this scientific uncertainty is dissatisfactory for science and public health, new mechanistic insight from ARIMMORA experiments points to future research that could provide a step-change in future assessments. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:183-189, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schüz
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer ITEM, Hanover, Germany.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dasenbrock
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravazzani
authors.affiliation: University of Basel and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Röösli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Primo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schär
authors.affiliation: IT'IS: Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Bounds
authors.affiliation: Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Erdmann
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatric Oncology, Haematology and Clinical Immunology, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Arndt
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borkhardt
authors.affiliation: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cobaleda
authors.affiliation: University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany.
authors.forename: Maren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fedrowitz
authors.affiliation: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yngve
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamnerius
authors.affiliation: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular del Cancer, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Isidro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovat, Israel.
authors.forename: Rony
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seger
authors.affiliation: University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kjeld
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmiegelow
authors.affiliation: German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gunde
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ziegelberger
authors.affiliation: IT'IS: Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Myles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capstick
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manser
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer ITEM, Hanover, Germany.
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: University of Basel and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christoph D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schürmann
authors.affiliation: University of Basel and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Struchen
authors.affiliation: IT'IS: Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuster
keywords: adverse effects; children; electromagnetic fields; hazard identification; leukemia; risk assessment