Magnetic Fields and Breast Cancer in Swedish Adults Residing near High-Voltage Power Lines

We conducted a case-control study to test the hypothesis that residential magnetic field exposures increase the incidence of breast cancer. The study was based on people who had lived within 300 m of 220− or 400-kV power lines in Sweden at any time between 1960 and 1985. We identified 699 cases of breast cancer in women and 9 cases in men. One matched control per female case and eight per male case were selected at random. Estrogen receptor information was available for a subset of female cases. We assessed magnetic field exposure through calculations of the magnetic fields generated by the power lines before diagnosis. For calculated magnetic field levels ≥0.2 microtesla (μT) closest in time before diagnosis, we estimated the relative risk to be 1.0 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.7–1.5 for women and 2.1 (95% CI = 0.3–14.1) for men. Women younger than 50 years of age at diagnosis had a relative risk of 1.8 (95% CI = 0.7–4.3). For women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, the relative risk was estimated at 1.6 (95% CI = 0.6–4.1), using the exposure cutoff point ≥0.1 μT. Among estrogen receptor-positive women younger than 50 years at diagnosis, the relative risk increased to 7.4 (95% CI = 1.0–178.1). (Epidemiology 1998; 9:392–397)