Summary

(See above links for more information)

New information on EMF

Introduction

A major new study found that children whose birth address was within 200 meters of an overhead power line had a 70% increased risk of leukemia. Children living 200 to 600 meters away from power lines had a 20% increased risk.  This indicates the danger from power lines is appreciably further from the lines than had been identified in previous studies.  The study, which was partially funded by the power-line industry, mapped how far each child lived from a high voltage overhead power line. It compared the children who had cancer with a control group of 29,000  children without cancer, but who lived in comparable districts, Appearing in the June 2005 British Medical Journal, the study concludes there is a statistical link between EMF from power lines and leukemia.  The study – a collaboration between the Childhood Cancer Research Group at the University of Oxford and National Grid owners, Transco – looked at cancer data or children aged up to 15 years old in England and Wales between 1962 and 1995. [Related Press Report]

A Connecticut law requires the Connecticut Siting Council to include health and fair market value issues when deciding on the application to expand and build 345-kilovolt lines.  Here is the rationale for the law.  As a followup, the Council study shows that burying long lines is feasible.

Based on experiments involving rats and ozone, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have identified a chemical reaction that may explain higher rates of illness observed= among some people exposed to strong electromagnetic fields such as those produced by high-voltage power lines.

A California Department of Health Sciences Evaluation concludes EMFs "can cause some degree of increased risk of childhood leukemia, adult brain cancer, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and miscarriage" [emphasis added].  The Evaluation—which is the culmination of a 9 year, $7 million research effort—further concludes that magnetic fields may cause suicide and adult leukemia. The Final Evaluation is dated June 2002, but was only released about October 13, 2002.  The Final Evaluation uses as a standard causation, which is a more rigorous test than the more common standard that seeks to demonstrate of an association between EMF and many of these diseases. Here is an analysis of this important report.  In addition, the California Health Department also produced a relatively short analysis of the policy options implied by the Evaluation.  The Department discusses the policy implications of its analysis it a separate report.

Even though the incidence of all these diseases (except miscarriages) is low, the California Department concludes EMF represents a significant health risk.  "[I]f EMFs do contribute to the cause of these conditions, even the low fractions of attributable cases and the size of accumulated lifetime risk of highly-exposed individuals could be of concern to regulators. Indeed, when deemed a real cause, estimated lifetime risks smaller than these...have triggered regulatory evaluation and, sometimes, actual regulation."

Microwave News, Wired.com, CNN, and The Electronic Daily, have already reported upon this important study.  Here is a transcript of CNN's August 15 report on the final evaluation. On October 6-8, 2002, further information on the final report was reported in prominent foreign newspapers including London's Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph and Canada's Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, and National Post.  An October 17 article in the San Francisco Gate (the online arm of the San Francisco Chronicle) discusses the report's implication in length.

As a direct result of the California Report, parents in Edmonton, Canada, were able to temporarily delay construction on a new school that they feared was too near a transmission power line. However, ultimately, the school board decided to proceed.

During the week of March 31, 2002, the Minnesota Department of Health posted an evaluation of the massive report of the California Health Department that found that magnetic fields probably cause a number of deadly diseases. The evaluation, whose authorship is not stated, was produced in secret utilizing a process that was completely closed. Perhaps as a result, it contains numerous factual errors. Nothing is known about the people or process through which reached its conclusions, nor the standards it used. Additionally, in Minnesota, a so-called Interagency Working Group on EMF issues issued a report dated September 2002, but likely also published last week. It also contains numerous errors. Again, no authors were identified, and the process through which this report was produced was completely closed. Perhaps as a result, It is clearly not a serious report but rather a reiteration of the utility industry's position

A California Administration Law Judge recently agreed, concluding that power lines represent a health risk.

Richard Box from Bristol is the winner of the Bombay Sapphire Prize 2004 – the world’s biggest award for artists, designers and architects working with glass. With a prize value of £20,000, this prestigious annual award that rewards and promotes excellence. “The piece drew attention to the presence of the electromagnetic field in a dramatic way, making the invisible, visible. For many who saw Field, it was a beautiful, magical and sinister experience, which was both thought provoking and educational.” 

Dr. Paul Vailleneuve of the University of Ottawa finds in study published in February 2002 that those who were exposed to a moderate 6mG of magnetic fields increased by a factor of 12 their odds of developing an agressive brain tumor know as glioblastoma multiforme.

The Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies and the National Cancer Center, in midterm analysis of a joint three-year survey project, have concluded children who are often exposed to such electromagnetic waves, emitted from high-voltage power lines and some household appliances, are on average more than twice as likely to get leukemia than those who are not exposed to EMF.

A study conducted in the Netherlands shows that intermitted power frequency magnetic fields cause more DNA breaks than do steady fields. (August 2002)

A new study, published in Cancer Cell International, presents experimental evidence to show that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields can have a potentially damaging effect on the process of cell division in (already) radiation-injured cells, which could lead to them becoming cancerous. (August 2002)

Research is being conducted in Brussels to determine the maximum exposure for ELF-EMF (September 2002)

In a significant July 2002 study sponsored by, among others, the National Institute of Enviromental Health and the Department of Energy, Reba Goodman and Martin Blank (who testified for the PLTF) note "It is now well established that low frequency (<300 Hz) electromagnetic (EM) fields induce biological changes that include effects ranging from increased enzyme reaction rates to increased transcript levels for specific genes... Despite cell and tissue differences (e.g., mammalian,dipteran, yeast, bacteria), approximately the same EM field exposure, 60 Hz, 80 mG for 20 min, (Goodman and Blank, 1998) induces hsp70 synthesis in all systems studied... DNA is known to conduct electrons, and studies on ATPase, cytochrome oxidase, and the BZ reaction, show that EM fields accelerate electron transfer rates. We have suggested that EM fields activate DNA by generating repulsive forces when accelerating electrons within the DNA double helix (Blank and Goodman, 1997, 1999, 2001)."

The highly respected industry journal Microwave News concludes there is a scientific consensus people exposed to above-average levels of EMF experience "a clear and consistent pattern" of increased cancer risk."

There is solid evidence that second hand smoke is less dangerous than magnetic fields.

Other Developments

Question: Why, given all the above evidence, is there still a perception that power lines are not dangerous.  Answer: Because rich corporations handsomely reward  lobbyists and scientists for distorting the scientific evidence in order to advance corporations' economic interests, as discussed in this June 2005 article in the Scientific American.

The State of Connecticut has enacted a law that effectively requires the burial of all large transmission power lines built near residences, schools, and other sensitive facilities.

Another Minnesota community is impacted by a power line proposal.

As reported by The San Francisco Examiner, on June 8, 2004, A California Administration law judge has expressed concern over EMF's.  However the PUC's chairman indicates he will ignore the judge's recommendation.

The UK's National Radiological Protection Board has lowered its maximum recommending expsoure limits by adopting the Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)'s standards for maximum exposure to EMF from power lines.  This standard sets the maximum exposure at 1000 mG, which is still a ridiculously high level, given the scientific consensus that there is a statistical link between EMF's greater than 4 mG and increases in the rate of cancer.

According to a March 22, 2003 newspaper report, the EU plans to limit power line magnetic field emissions.  (Switzerland already has limited them to 10 mG and Spain has declared such emissions to violate human rights.)  It also reports that the world’s largest insurance body, Lloyds of London, is now refusing insurance coverage to power generating companies against damage to workers and consumers’ health.

 A new technological development may defer for many years the need to build new transmission power lines.  However, it also means that existing lines will become potentially much more dangerous than they are at present.

An article in the New York Times magazine of May 5, 2002, discusses "Evidence Based Medicine" (EBM).  The application of EBM to ELFEMF would lead to far stronger actions than are currently entertained by public health authorities. The article suggests that resistance to EBM is lead by doctors who are unequipped to deal with rigorous science and who therefore feel threatened by this new trend in medicine.  Another article in the August 10 New York Times points out that the causes for most cancers are not known.  Given that the causes are unknown, it is unreasonable for the Minnesota Department of Health and others to decry the dangers of EMF on the grounds that it is not shown there is a cause and effect relationship between EMF and cancer.

A recent article in the Lakeland Florida ledger relates how prospective homeowners fear transmission power lines.