Review date
18 July 2023
Article publication date
February 2023
Summary
This retrospective cohort study evaluated the association between occupational radiofrequency-electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure and incidence of cancer among military personnel. All military personnel serving in aerial defence units (with RADAR systems) exposed to RF-EMF exposures (n=11,049) and active-duty soldiers (with no occupational RF-EMF exposures, n=3,825) serving between 2009 and 2018 were included and were followed-up for on average of 4.6 (exposed group) and 4.8 (non-exposed group) years. A total of 41 cases (13 in exposed group; 28 in non-exposed group) were diagnosed with cancer during the follow-up period. Information on RF-EMF exposure history (e.g., start year of exposure) and socio-demographics of the participants were collected from the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps database, while cancer incidence data were collected from the Israeli National Cancer Registry. The results showed that there was no statistically significant association between occupational RF-EMF exposure and incidence of cancer (Odds ratio = 1.38 [95% Confidence Interval: 0.67-2.82]. The study concluded that RF-EMF exposure did not increase the risk for cancer in young adults.
Link to
Occupational Exposure to Nonionizing Radiation and Risk for Malignancy in Young Adults
Published in
Military Medicine
ARPANSA commentary
Overall, this study showed that occupational RF-EMF exposure in military personnel is not associated with short-term cancer incidence. This finding is largely consistent to a previous study conducted among veterans of the Korean War (Groves et al., 2002), but in contrast to other studies reporting increased risk of hematolymphatic cancers among Polish military personnel (Szmigielski, 1996) and neurologic cancers (Grayson, 1996) among the US Air Force personnel. However, a meta-analysis (Variani et al., 2019) did not show any association between occupational RF-EMF exposure to radar and cancer incidence or mortality rate. The study limitations include lack of objective data on personal RF-EMF exposure, small number of cancer cases and short follow-up time (e.g., a median of 4.4 years in the exposed group), and it did not adjust for potential confounders such as smoking status, alcohol consumption, dietary, lifestyle habits and other occupational exposures. It is the assessment of ARPANSA and international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation (ICNIRP) that there is no established scientific evidence to support that RF-EMF exposure increases the risk for cancer. In line with international guidelines from ICNIRP, the ARPANSA safety standard Radiation Protection Series S-1 (Rev. 1) | ARPANSA sets out the sets limits of exposure to RF-EMF for the public and workers.
