Literature Building Study

Over a 17-year period (1991– 2008), 9 people who had worked in the Literature Building at some point were diagnosed with breast cancer, including 8 diagnoses during 2000-2006 in women with a median age of 56. Seven additional women working in the Literature Building from 1997 to 2008 reported cancer diagnoses other than breast cancer. In Winter quarter 2010, a 10th person working in the building was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Dr. Cedric Garland, Adjunct Professor in UC San Diego’s Family and Preventive Medicine Department, performed an initial review of the safety of the Literature Building.

In a written report, Dr. Garland noted the elevator equipment on the first floor of the building as a source of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and concluded that "there is a possibility of a mild to modest increase in risk of breast cancer associated with a very small area of the first floor building in very close proximity to the electrical and elevator equipment rooms." The report also stated that exposure to EMF "is unlikely to be a principal cause of breast cancer that has been diagnosed in people who have worked in this small area."

Dr. Garland’s study also considered mold, toxins, chemicals, radioisotopes, and domestic water as possible causes of cancer but excluded them as potential causes.

Dr. Garland's report raised a serious enough concern for the university to take interim measures to protect the health and safety of the occupants of the Literature Building while further investigation was conducted. These interim measures included the following actions:

• Steps taken in response to EMF concerns:
  • Two elevators suspected as sources of EMFs have been shut down to normal service.
  • The areas identified by Dr. Garland as being potentially at risk of exposure to EMF have been vacated.
  • Older motor-starting devices in the elevators have been replaced with newer solid-state soft starts that reduce current surge from motor startups, which in turn reduce EMF.
  • Older magnetic fluorescent light ballasts have been replaced with solid-state equipment to reduce EMF.
• Steps taken in response to mold concerns:
  • Water-damaged ceiling tiles have been replaced.
  • All building pipe insulation has been repaired to prevent condensation damage to ceiling tiles.
  • Outside walls have been hydro washed.
  • All air register grilles have been cleaned or replaced.

The university asked the World Health Organization (WHO) for an expert on the potential health effects of EMF. The WHO recommended Dr. Leeka Kheifets. Dr. Kheifets is currently a Professor in Residence in Epidemiology at UC Los Angeles, and formerly led the World Health Organization’s International EMF Project. Before being retained, Dr. Kheifets was interviewed by the director of Environment, Health & Safety, with a member of the faculty of the Department of Literature present.

Based on that interview and the WHO’s recommendation, Chancellor Fox charged Dr. Kheifets to perform an in-depth investigation into the potential health effects of EMF in the Literature Building. On February 10, 2009, Dr. Kheifets met with occupants of the Literature Building to hear their concerns and to begin her review.

To assist Dr. Kheifets and to speed the completion of her analysis, the university retained Field Management Services (FMS), an engineering consulting firm, to measure the current levels of EMF in the Literature Building. FMS issued a report on its findings on January 24, 2009.

Dr. Kheifet’s final report was addressed to Chancellor Fox on July 13, 2009.

• NEW AC Magnetic Field Survey Report, (PDF), 2/15/10 Field Management Service Corporation
• Indoor Air Quality Survey Report (PDF), Ninyo & Moore, 12/06/09
• UC San Diego Literature Building Update (PDF), 9/18/09
• Letter from Chancellor Fox to O. Zhiri (PDF), 7/24/09
• Report on Investigated Cancer Cluster in the Literature Building at UCSD (PDF), 7/13/09, Kheifets and Sudan
• NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation, Literature Building at UC San Diego (PDF), 6/9/09, Page and Fent, Department of Health & Human Services, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Mold Sampling Report (PDF), 4/6/09, Aurora Industrial Hygiene, Inc.
• PCB Report (PDF), 4/6/09, Aurora Industrial Hygiene, Inc.
• UC San Diego Literature Building Electromagnetic Field Safety Review (PDF), 1/26/09 Fox to Kheifets
• ELF Magnetic Field Survey & Assessment Report (PDF), 1/24/09 Field Management Service Corporation
• Facilities Management Actions on Literature Building to 1-15-09 (PDF), 1/15/09 Facilities Management
• Requests from the Literature Department Concerning the Building (PDF), 1/14/09 Zhiri to Fox
• Leeka Kheifets Reference (PDF), 12/21/08 WHO to Fox
• Environment, Health & Safety Report: Literature Building Ceiling Tile Mold Sample (PDF), 12/03/08 Meyer to Ho-Wu
• Letter from Chancellor Fox to D. Wayne (PDF), 11/10/08 Fox to Wayne
• Opinion of the Situation in the Literature Building (PDF), 6/20/08 Garland to Fox
• Environment, Health & Safety Report: Indoor Environment and Air Quality Assessment at the Literature Building (PDF), 4/26/07 Thaung to Wayne
• Magnetic Field Exposure and Cancer: Questions and Answers, National Cancer Institute fact sheet
• Magnetic Field Levels Around Homes (PDF), typical EMF field levels

• Feychting, M., et. al., EMF and Health, Ann. Rev. Pub. Health, 26:165-89 (2005).
• Hardell, L. and Sage, C., Biological Effects from Electromagnetic Field Exposure and Public Exposure Standards, Biomed. Pharmacother., 62(2):104-9 (2008).
• International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, Standing Committee on Epidemiology, Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields (Up to 300 GHz), Health Physics 74 (4):494-522; 1998.
• International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, Standing Committee on Epidemiology, Review of the Epidemiologic Literature on EMF and Health, Environ. Health Perspect., 109:911-933 (2001).
• Jose, S., et. al., Assessment of Confounding and Interaction using the Mantel-Haenszel Risk Estimation Method, Asian Pac J Cancer Prev., 9(2);323-6 (2008).
• Kheifets, L., et. al., Future Needs of Occupational Epidemiology of Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF): Review and Recommendations, Occup. Environ. Med.,10:1136 (2008).
• Kheifets, L., Abdelmonem, A. and Riti Shimkhada, Public Health Impact of Extremely Low-Frequency Electomagnetic Fields, Env. Health Pers., 114(10): 1532-1537 (2006).
• Schoenfeld, E., et. al., Electromagnetic Fields and Breast Cancer on Long Island: A Case-Control Study, Am. J. of Epidemiol., 158(1):47-58 (2003).

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among females in the United States. About 2.5 percent of all California women 50 years old will develop breast cancer during the next 10 years of their lives. Below are 3 Web-based sources of information on the incidence of breast cancer and other cancers, an assessment tool that estimates a woman’s risk of breast cancer based on her personal risk factors, and a federal report on the sharp decline in breast cancer incidence 1999 to 2003 after the United States Preventive Services Task Force began recommending against the routine use of hormone replacement therapy:

• The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, National Cancer Institute (NCI) – This interactive tool was designed by scientists at the NCI and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project to estimate a woman's risk of developing invasive breast cancer. The tool has been updated for African American women based on the Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences Study. This tool was designed for use by health professionals; therefore you are encouraged to discuss your personal risk of breast cancer with your doctor.
• United States Cancer Statistics, CDC – Official federal statistics on cancer incidence from registries that have high-quality data and cancer mortality statistics for each year and 2002–2004 combined.
• Decline in Breast Cancer Incidence — United States, 1999–2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC – This online report describes stabilization in female breast cancer incidence rates during 2001-2003, ending increases that began in the 1980s.