Occupational exposure to radio frequencies in the development of head and neck cancer: a systematic review of cohort studies

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to summarize published data on cohort studies investigating the association between the occupational exposure to radio frequencies and clinical outcome of head and neck cancers.We retrieved the relevant articles from PubMed and SCOPUS databases. Studies were selected using specific inclusion and exclusioncriteria: study design, professional exposure and type of head and neck cancers.Twenty-nine articles were included in the present analysis.Occupational exposure to radio frequencies might be associated with the development to head and neck cancer. No consistentevidences generally were found in the review. An interesting, even if weak, association with incidence of larynx tumor was found inthree studies: RR=1.46 (95%CI: 1.05-2.43) for all electronic workers; RR=1.4 (95%CI: 1.2-1.6) for male electrical workers; and asignificant SIR for electrical workers =1.39 (95%CI: 1.08-1.76).

Keywords

• head and neck
• cancer
• occupational exposure
• electromagnetic
• workers
• microwave
• cohort.