TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a prospective cohort JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO - Occup Environ Med SP - 578 LP - 585 DO - 10.1136/oemed-2016-103780 VL - 74 IS - 8 AU - Tom Koeman AU - Pauline Slottje AU - Leo J Schouten AU - Susan Peters AU - Anke Huss AU - Jan H Veldink AU - Hans Kromhout AU - Piet A van den Brandt AU - Roel Vermeulen Y1 - 2017/08/01 UR - http://oem.bmj.com/content/74/8/578.abstract N2 - Objective To prospectively study suspected occupational risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Methods For this case–cohort analysis within the prospective Netherlands Cohort Study, 58 279 men and 62 573 women aged 55–69 years at enrolment in 1986 were followed up for 17.3 years on ALS mortality. Information on occupational history and potential confounders were collected at baseline through a self-administered questionnaire and entered for a random subcohort (2092 men and 2074 women) and ALS deaths (76 men and 60 women). Occupational exposure to solvents, pesticides, metals, extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) and electrical shocks was estimated by means of job exposure matrices (JEMs). Associations between ever/never occupationally exposed and cumulative exposure and ALS mortality were analysed by gender using Cox regression.Results Occupational exposure to ELF-MF showed a possible association with ALS mortality among men: HR for ever holding a job with high exposure versus background 2.19 (95% (CI): 1.02 to 4.73) and HR for the highest tertile of cumulative exposure versus background 1.93 (95% CI 1.05 to 3.55).Interpretation These results strengthen the evidence suggesting a positive association between ELF-MF exposure and ALS. We did not replicate earlier positive findings for other occupational exposures. ER -