Authored By:
Hauri DD, Spycher B, Huss A, Zimmermann F, Grotzer M, Von der Weid N, Spoerri A, Kuehni CE, Röösli MThis cohort study investigated whether exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from broadcast (radio and TV) transmitters is associated with childhood cancer. In the study all children aged under 16 years living in Switzerland on December 5, 2000 were followed till December 31, 2008 for the incidence of cancer. Exposure to RF was calculated based on the distance of the children’s residential address from broadcast transmitters and the transmitter characteristics. There were no statistically significant associations with leukaemia, brain tumour or all cancers combined. The authors conclude that this large cohort study did not show an association between RF exposure from broadcast transmitters and childhood cancer.
Published In:
Am J Epidemiol 2013: in pressThe majority of previous epidemiological studies investigating cancer risk in children living near broadcast transmitters have been ecological or cross-sectional in design with many methodological limitations. For example, previous studies used distance between the home and the broadcast tower as a proxy for the RF exposure; no attempts were made by previous studies to estimate the exposure through measurements or calculations. The study by Hauri et al uses a cohort design and improves the assessment of exposure by performing calculations.
