Assessment of the health risk in workers in shielded rooms (a retrospective study)

Introduction. Scientific literature provides substantial evidence regarding the effects of the Earth’s weakened geomagnetic field on the human body, primarily derived from short-term experimental studies. However, these data do not allow a reliable assessing of “dose-response” and “time-effect” relationships. To evaluate the duration and intensity of hypogeomagnetic field exposure in shielded facilities, employment duration (length of service) was used as a proxy indicator.

This study aims to conduct a retrospective analysis of a 30-year electronic database of periodic medical examinations and assess the risk for hypertensive heart disease and unspecified myocarditis among workers in shielded versus standard office environments.

Materials and methods. Two cohorts were formed based on differing occupational conditions: workers in shielded facilities (exposed group), n=411; and workers in standard office environments (unexposed group), n=352. Relative risk (RR), odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated.

Results. Priority nosological entities were identified according to the ICD-10. The study revealed a strong, statistically significant association between work in shielded facilities and hypertensive heart disease, RR=1.958 (1.062–3.609), as well as unspecified myocarditis RR=4.282 (1.25–14.671).

Conclusions. Risk assessment for hypertensive heart disease, unspecified myocarditis, and occupational environmental factors demonstrated a statistically significant association between working conditions and prevalence among employees exposed to the Earth’s weakened geomagnetic field.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require a conclusion on biomedical ethics, since it is the result of generalization of many years of work of scientists in this direction.

Contribution:
Plekhanov V.P. – research concept and design, data analysis, text writing;
Sklyar D.N. – editing;
Kalinina N.I. – analysis of materials; editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: April 17, 2026 / Revised: May 21, 2026 / Accepted: July 1, 2026 / Published: September 28, 2026

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