Ham Radio Operators’ High Cancer Rate Poses a Puzzle

Amateur radio operators in Washington and California appear to die at abnormally high rates from several forms of cancer, suggesting a possible link between cancer and electromagnetic fields, according to data collected by a state epidemiologist.

Others cautioned that evidence of such a link has been inconsistent and that other factors may be involved.

Dr. Samuel Milham Jr. of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services studied the deaths of 2,485 Washington and California ham operators between 1979 and 1984.

He reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that 29 leukemia deaths would be expected in a group of people that size, but he found 36 deaths. Statistically, he expected to find 72 lymphatic and blood-forming organ cancers, but found 89. And he expected to find 67.6 deaths from prostate cancer, but found 78.

‘Excess Mortality’

The study “indicates that amateur radio operator licensees in Washington state and California have significant excess mortality due to acute myloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and perhaps certain types of malignant lymphoma,” Milham reported.

Leonard Sagan, program manager for radiation studies at the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., warned that studies like Milham’s can be misinterpreted. Milham’s findings could be simple associations that have nothing to do with cancer causes among people who work with electricity, he said.

Sagan said his own research hasn’t shown whether electricity causes cancer. But he predicted that if it does, it’s rare.

“I think it would be unfortunate for people with children to become overly concerned about this,” he said. “Evidence is weak and inconsistent and in a few years we will have better evidence.”