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EMF in the News.
Study Links EMF to Alzheimer's
Last modified on:
Friday, March 12, 1999 12:05:20
Copyright © 1994-2008, Information Ventures, Inc.
Biological Effects of Nonionizing Electromagnetic
Radiation [BENER] Digest Update, Volume 4, Number 2, 1994
In a case-control study of 387 Alzheimer's patients and 475 controls, Dr. Eugene Sobel of the University of
Southern California School of Medicine and colleagues found an association between occupational exposure
to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and Alzheimer's disease. The study was made up of two Finnish groups
and one American group of subjects. Researchers found that the overall odds ratio of subjects occupationally
exposed to "high" and "medium" levels of EMFs developing Alzheimer's was 3.0 (p< 0.0003) compared to
subjects exposed to "low" levels of EMFs. For women the odds ratio was 3.8 (p< 0.0008). The odds ratios
for the three groups were 2.9, 3.1, and 3.0 (p=0.17, 0.006, and 0.10, respectively). The odds ratio for women
exposed to "high/medium" fields was even higher: 7.3, 3.3, and 4.2 (p=0.08, 0.03, and 0.24,
respectively).
Researchers did not actually measure electric and magnetic field exposures among cases or controls. Rather,
they inferred the subjects' EMF exposure from occupational titles. Factory and home sewing machine EMF
exposure appeared to be among the highest of any profession. Dressmakers and sewers were "over-
represented" among the cases studied. Measurements made following the study showed that magnetic fields
at the user's head were 2.7-5.3 mG for home sewing machines and 2-11 mG for industrial machines. At knee
level the magnetic fields were on the order of 200 mG. Results were presented at the Fourth International
Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders on 31 July and have been submitted for
publication in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
EMF News, 15 August 1994
Microwave News, July/August 1994
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