Grant: Fellowship: Bisby (Prize)

Brain tumours are a serious, often highly fatal disease, with few established risk factors, and are an important population health issue in Canada. Although ionizing radiation has been clearly linked with brain tumours, there are a number of environmental and occupational agents that are suspected. However, results from previous studies are inconsistent due to small numbers of study subjects and crude methods of exposure assessment. There exists a unique opportunity to further clarify the role of environmental and occupational agents in the etiology of brain tumours using data from a large, multi-national study of brain tumours, INTERPHONE. INTERPHONE is a 13-country study, including Canada, that was conducted according to a common protocol. Its primary objective was to examine whether radiofrequency (RF) field exposure from cellular telephones is associated with brain tumours. A number of INTERPHONE countries, with interest and expertise in occupational hygiene, collected detailed occupational information and participated in the subsequent INTEROCC study. The objective of INTEROCC is to address outstanding questions concerning environmental and occupational agents, including electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure, particularly extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELFMFs), and chemicals in the disease. Chemical and ELFMF exposures have been estimated for 3,978 brain tumours (2,054 gliomas and 1,924 meningiomas) and 5,601 controls, providing an extraordinary opportunity to investigate the effect of these agents and their potential interactions for brain tumours, a pressing research gap. The proposed research seeks to provide new scientific data to help resolve the debate surrounding conflicting previous studies, clarify whether Canadians are at an increased risk of brain tumours due to environmental and occupational agents, and to inform the management of potential occupational and environmental risks to health.