LATEBREAKER
Cancer
Extremely Low‐Frequency Magnetic Fields and Radiofrequency and the Risk of Childhood Central Nervous System Tumors in Mexico City Juan Manuel Mejia-Arangure* Juan Manuel Mejia-Arangure Victor Correa-Correa Juan C. Núñez‐Enríquez Aurora Medina‐Sanson
The central nervous system tumors (CNSt) are the second most common cancer in children and represent an important contributor to mortality in this age group. Their etiology remains largely unknown, however previous reports indicate that exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and radiofrequency (RF) may be related to the risk of developing CNSt. Mexico City has a high frequency exposure to high levels of ELF-MF, however the RF exposure in the population is not known. Hence, we aim to investigate the association between ELF-MF and RF exposure and the risk of developing CNSt.
A case-control study in Mexico City from 2017 to 2022, where residential 24-hour ELF-MF measurements were obtained and the time of RF exposure was calculated for 200 patients with CNSt and 793 controls under 16 years of age. For ELF-MF exposure <0.1 μT was used to define the reference group. For RF exposure, we estimated the total exposure time in cell phone calls and the total time of use of electronic devices with and without internet use; exposure strata were grouped by quartiles, considering the lower quartile (<20000 minutes) as the reference group. Logistic regressions were implemented in R and SPSS.
ELF-MF exposure at ≥0.3 μT was observed in 11.6 % of our population. An increased risk of developing CNSt associated with high ELF-MF exposure (≥0.4 μT), aOR 2.64 95% CI 1.22-5.51. Cell phone use showed no differences between cases and controls. The use of electronic tablet for prolonged periods (>20000 min) with and without internet was associated with increased risk of developing CNSt, with an aOR of 2.46 (95% CI 1.02-5.64) and 6.17 (95% CI 1.49-30.51), respectively.
In the present study, the proportion of children exposed to ≥0.3 μT in Mexico City was high compared to those reported worldwide. Our results indicate that exposure to high levels of ELF-MF and prolonged use of electronic tablet with or without internet may be associated with increased risk of developing CNSt.