Speaker
Description
Introduction
Epidemiological studies assessing associations between extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure (ELF-EMF; 50/60Hz) and childhood leukaemia (CL) have not clarified whether a causal association exists. It is also unclear what advances in epidemiological research are needed to answer this question.To advance the epidemiology, there may be value in instead starting from comparative ‘complex combinations of environmental, demographic and social factors’ (‘exposome’) with and without electricity distribution infrastructure. In this feasiblity study we demonstrate the methodology for the area of Bristol.
Methods
Geospatial data of the electricity distribution network from UK National Grid were mapped to the 268 lower-super-output areas (LSOA; 400-1200 households) of the Bristol Local Authority District. This was linked to 44 demographic and environmental factors –most of which previously linked to CL- obtained from open data or licensed for free. Correlation matrices and exploratory factor analysis were used to explore patterns correlating with the presence or density of the electricity distribution network.
Results
Only 14 LSOA areas had overhead powerlines, making robust inferences impossible. Nonetheless, overhead powerlines correlated with agricultural or ‘forest, open land and water’ landuse and with pesticide and herbicide use. Similar evaluations for the 123 LSOAs that had any electricity distribution infrastructure including underground cables, did not demonstrate clear correlation patterns.
Conclusion
This feasibility study demonstrates that the data are available and can be linked, and as these (and other) data are available nationally for the whole of England (NLSOA=33,755) this will enable an extensive exploration of the exposome to inform future epidemiological studies.
