ELF Magnetic Fields and Childhood Leukemia

ObservationOverview of explanationsPossible explanationInstitute of Cancer EpidemiologyLikelihoodStatisticalartifactsChanceVery unlikely due to robust findingsSelection biasDefinite but unclear whether entire associationExposure misclassificationVery unlikely to produce positive associationConfoundingUnlikely due to requirementsMixture of abovePossibleEpidemiological studiesshow an associationbetween exposure tomagnetic fields above0.3/0.4 T and the riskof childhood leukemiaAlternativeexplanationsEarlier suggestionsMelatoninContact currentsVery unlikely due to lack of supportive dataUnlikely, few supportive dataUnlikely, many assumptionsUnknown alternativeTheoretically possible, yet to be uncoveredInitiationVery unlikely due to negative experimental dataCausallinkPromotionEpigenetic/CocarcinogeneticTheoretically possible, no supportive dataTheoretically possible, no supportive dataSchüz&Lightfoot (2007) in: Obe G, Vijayalaxmi – Chromosomal Alterations