ELF-EMF, endocrine disruptors, light: what if we apply triage to research?

Abstract

Triage in medicine is an effective means to maximize health benefits of limited resources. This paper suggests to use triage principles as a means to identify biomedical and epidemiological research priorities. The author applies the following questions to three putative problems which receive different research and funding attention: (a) Does a suspected exposure render many humans at risk? (b) Is a disease frequent, difficult to treat and expensive? and (c) Is a causal link between (a) and (b) biologically plausible? On the basis of answers to (a), (b), and (c) it is concluded that ELF-EMF and childhood leukaemia would not qualify for further urgent investigations and that endocrine disruptors and to-be-identified end-points would not qualify for urgent investigations. Provided that answers to the outlined triage questions can be considered as a practical guide to urgent research investigations, the suggestive link between light, endocrine systems and hormone-dependent cancers should become a higher priority research focus.