Breast cancer, occupation, and exposure to electromagnetic fields among Swedish men
- 16 February 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Industrial Medicine
- Vol. 39 (3), 276-285
- https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0274(200103)39:3<276::aid-ajim1015>3.0.co;2-b
Abstract
Background Investigations of breast cancer among men may provide clues for environmental and occupational risk factors that may be difficult to study in women, because of confounding or effect modification from reproductive female characteristics. The objective was to estimate occupation‐specific risks of male breast cancer and to assess the effect of occupational exposure to extremely low‐frequency magnetic fields (ELFMF). Methods Standardized incidence ratios were computed for the period 1971–1989 among Swedish men who were 25–59 years of age at start of follow‐up and gainfully employed in 1970. Log‐linear Poisson models were fitted to adjust for geographical area. A job exposure matrix was used to classify occupational ELFMF exposure. Results A marked and consistent excess risk was found for machinery repairers. Increased relative risks based on few cases were also noted for librarians/archivists/curators, bank employees, non‐specified clerical workers, metal processing workers, tanners/fur dressers, policemen, and custom surveillance officials. The relative risk among subjects with an estimated ELFMF exposure above the first quartile (0.12 μT) was 1.31 (95% confidence interval = 0.94–1.81), without a clear exposure–response pattern. Indications of an exposure–response relationship were found in workers with intermittent ELFMF exposure. Conclusions The findings give no clear evidence for an etiological role of ELFMF in the development of breast cancer in men, but suggest that large variations in exposure over the work‐day may be associated with an increased risk. Am. J. Ind. Med. 39:276–285, 2001.This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit:
- Occupational magnetic field exposure and site-specific cancer incidence: a Swedish cohort studyCancer Causes and Control, 1999
- Case-control study of occupational exposures and male breast cancerOccupational and Environmental Medicine, 1998
- Cancer incidence among Ontario police officersAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1998
- Magnetic-field Exposures in the Workplace: Reference Distribution and Exposures in Occupational GroupsInternational Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1996
- Re: Breast Cancer Mortality Among Female Electrical Workers in the United StatesJNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1995
- Mortality among urban policemen in RomeAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1994
- Incidence of selected cancers in Swedish railway workers, 1961–79Cancer Causes & Control, 1994
- Occupational physical activity, socioeconomic status, and risks of 15 cancer sites in TurkeyCancer Causes and Control, 1993
- Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer RiskEpidemiologic Reviews, 1993
- Incidence of male breast cancer in scandinavia, 1943–1982International Journal of Cancer, 1989