Mexican study examined exposure to ELF EMF and the risk of childhood leukaemia

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This case-control study examined the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field (MF) exposure on the incidence of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). The study included 290 cases and 407 controls who were under 16 years of age and recruited from public hospitals in Mexico City. Participants exposure was assessed by measuring the ELF MF in their bedrooms over a 24-hour period. The study reported statistically significant associations between B-ALL and ELF MF at ≥ 0.4 µT (odds ratio (OR) 1.87 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–3.35) and ELF MF at ≥ 0.6 µT (OR 2.32 95% CI 1.10–4.93). The authors concluded that exposure to ELF‐MF ≥ 0.4 μT may be associated with the risk of B‐ALL.

Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields and the Risk of Childhood B-Lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in a City With High Incidence of Leukemia and Elevated Exposure to ELF Magnetic Fields

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The results in this study are limited by the small number of subjects classified as exposed; only 29 cases and 27 controls and 19 cases and 15 controls at ELF MF ≥ 0.4 µT and ≥ 0.6 µT, respectively. A recent meta-analysis by Crespi et al (2019) reported that exposure to ELF MF above 0.4 µT was not associated with childhood leukaemia. Further, there are a number of factors that could be influencing the observed association between childhood leukaemia and magnetic fields including, selection bias, misclassification and other confounding factors (WHO, 2007). There is also no substantiated mechanism that has been identified from experimental studies that could explain a possible association between ELF MF and childhood leukaemia (SCENIHR, 2015). This, together with shortcomings of the epidemiological studies, limits any conclusions being made on reported associations between ELF MF and childhood leukaemia.