Paternal occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and neuroblastoma in offspring

Investigators in Texas have reported an association between paternal employment in jobs linked with exposure to electromagnetic fields and risk of neuroblastoma in offspring. In an attempt to replicate this finding, the authors conducted a case-control study in Ohio. A total of 101 incident cases of neuroblastoma were identified through the Columbus (Ohio) Children's Hospital Tumor Registry. All cases were born sometime during the period 1942-1967. From a statewide roster of birth certificates, four controls were selected for each case, with individual matching on the case's year of birth, race, and sex, and the mother's county of residence at the time of the (index) child's birth. Multiple definitions were employed to infer the potential for paternal occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields from the industry/occupation statements on the birth certificates. Case-control comparisons revealed adjusted odds ratios ranging in magnitude from 0.5 to 1.9. For two of the exposure definitions employed--both of which are similar to one used by the Texas investigators--the corresponding odds ratios were modestly elevated (odds ratios = 1.6 and 1.9). Notably, the magnitude of these odds ratios is not inconsistent with the Texas findings, where the exposure definition referred to yielded an odds ratio of 2.1. Because the point estimates in this study are imprecise, and because the biologic plausibility of the association is uncertain, the results reported here must be interpreted cautiously. However, the apparent consistency between two independent studies suggests that future evaluation of the association is warranted.