In a case-control study of childhood leukemia in relation to exposure to power-frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMF), 399 children resident in five Canadian provinces who were diagnosed at ages 0-14 years between 1990 and 1994 (June 1995 in British Columbia and Quebec) were enrolled, along with 399 controls. Exposure assessment included 48-hour personal EMF measurement, wire coding and magnetic field measurements for subjects' residences from conception to diagnosis/reference date, and a 24-hour magnetic field bedroom measurement. Personal magnetic fields were not related to risk of leukemia (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.95, p for trend = 0.73) or acute lymphatic leukemia (OR = 0.93, p for trend = 0.64). There were no clear associations with predicted magnetic field exposure 2 years before the diagnosis/reference date or over the subject's lifetime or with personal electric field exposure. A statistically nonsignificant elevated risk of acute lymphatic leukemia was observed with very high wiring configurations among residences of subjects 2 years before the diagnosis/reference date (OR = 1.72 compared with underground wiring, 95% confidence interval 0.54-5.45). These results provide little support for a relation between power-frequency EMF exposure and risk of childhood leukemia.

No abstract

A population-based case-control study of prostatic cancer in Alberta was undertaken to determine the risk factors associated with the disease. Cases were 382 newly diagnosed prostatic cancer patients and 625 controls, group-matched to the anticipated age distribution of the cases, chosen at random from the health insurance roster. Subjects were interviewed in their homes by using a pre-tested questionnaire including questions related to ethnic group, education, puberty, marital history, family history, residence, water supply, smoking, and diet. Factors significantly related to the risk of developing prostatic cancer included ethnic group (British high, Ukrainian low), education (elementary high, university low), age at first marriage (early high, late low), family history (high risk for those with relatives with prostatic cancer), and increased masculinity among the children of cases. The results with respect to smoking, occupation, medical history, birthplace, residence, water supply, and diet were generally negative.

A statistically significant association between income adequacy, education social class and lung cancer risk was found.

No abstract