Association between Childhood Leukaemia and Exposure to Power-frequency Magnetic Fields in Middle Europe

Key words: 
• Childhood leukaemia /
• Power‐frequency magnetic field exposure /
• Extremely low‐frequency magnetic field /
• Housing types

Abstract: Objective Higher levels of exposure to extremely low‐frequency magnetic fields (ELF‐MF) are associated with a slightly increased risk of childhood leukaemia. Compared with more‐developed Western countries, higher exposure levels are evident in the Czech Republic, probably because of the different types of housing. In light of this, we aimed to examine the association between ELF‐MF exposure and childhood leukaemia in the Czech Republic.Methods We conducted a paired case‐control study. The cases (children with leukaemia) were agesex‐ and permanent residence‐matched to controls (children without leukaemia). Although this limited potential bias and confounding, it also limited our number of participants.Results The matched analyses included 79 case‐control pairs. No significant association between ELF‐MF exposure and childhood leukaemia was observed for exposures over 0.2 μT (odds ratio [OR]=0.93, confidence interval [CI]=0.45‐1.93), 0.3 μT (OR=0.77, CI=0.34‐1.75), or 0.4 μT (OR=0.9, CI=0.37‐2.22).Conclusion Despite higher levels of exposure in Middle and Eastern Europe, no indication of an association between ELF‐MF exposure and childhood leukaemia was determined. This in contrast to the findings of previous studies conducted in different countries.