Background: Acoustic neuroma is the intracranial tumor subtype showing the highest relative risk in relation to ionizing radiation but other environmental risk factors are largely unknown. This study was performed to investigate the effect of power frequency magnetic fields.
Method: A total of 793 cases between 1987 and 1999 were identified through the Swedish cancer registry and 101,762 controls were randomly selected from the total population. Information about occupation was obtained from censuses and linked to gender specific job-exposure matrices based on actual measurements of 50 Hz magnetic field exposure.
Result: We investigated time-weighted average, peak values, and rate of change of magnetic field exposure considering several different time windows in relation to cancer diagnosis. We found no increases in risks regardless of exposure metric or time window of exposure.
Conclusion: This study is the largest ever on acoustic neuroma and the first study to evaluate this tumor subtype specifically in relation to extremely low frequency magnetic fields. The results do not support the hypothesis that 50 Hz magnetic fields increase the risk of acoustic neuroma.
Copyright (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.