Powerwatch
News Alasdair Philips Powerwatch
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At last, the end of an era of denial. We have been pushing for this admission for 15 years now! Powerlines CAN cause cancer and other illnesses. A short version is on the front page of the Sunday Times on 4th March 2001. Further details are below. Useful key References are given at the bottom of this document.
On Monday March 5th, a German study will be announced in the March 1st issue of the International Journal of Cancer that will show an increased risk of 3.21 (95% CI 1.33 - 7.8) of childhood leukaemia in children exposed to elevated power-frequency magnetic fields at night-time. We have long asked that night-time exposure be separated out from daytime exposure, as it is at night that critical growth and repair processes take place.
On Tuesday March 6th, the NRPB's Doll Report Mk II (ELF Fields and the Risk of Cancer) will be released in London. For the first time they will admit an association of increased risk of childhood leukaemia with elevated magnetic fields. Genuine media may apply for an invitation by phoning the NRPB on 01253 822 744. Interviews with Sir Richard Doll and Sir Walter Bodmer can be pre-arranged by talking to Dr Michael Clark on 01235 822 737. Copies of the new Report will be available at the Press Conference.
Although Prof Henshaw (et al)'s work has been published for a couple of years now, Sir Richard Doll's NRPB Advisory Group has never questioned him about his work. This seems odd for a group whose role is to advise on the importance of all new EMF related health research. You would have thought that they would have invited him to give a presentation and then given him a very hard viva-voce cross examination about the details of his work and hypothesis. How can they form a rightful judgement any other way?
We ask: "Is it a coincidence that the UKCCS Electric Field paper has been delayed by over 6 months so that it comes out AFTER this Doll Report Mk II ?" We await the results from this electric field study with great interest.
Dramatic new assessments of ill health near to
high-voltage powerlines by Professor Denis Henshaw of Bristol University.
These were given in February as 'advice to UK Government' and will be available on his web site from Monday 5th March.
He predicts excess cases of:
2 - 8 cases of childhood leukaemia caused by overnight magnetic field
exposure above 0.3 microtesla
This estimate is mainly based on people living within 50 metres of 132 kV
lines and above, but fields this high can be found up to a couple of hundred metres from
the highest power lines, and are also caused by 33 kV, 11 kV and even 240/415 volt local
overhead lines. People living within about 500 metres of overhead high voltage lines are
also exposed to Corona Ion effects which cause toxic aerosols to get electrically charged
and become more dangerous. We also find areas of the country where unseen and uncorrected
underground electricity distribution cables cause fields greatly in excess of 0.3
microtesla (uT). About 300,000 people in the UK live in residential magnetic fields from
external power lines of all sorts exceeding 0.3 uT. The only way to know is to have your
fields measured (by your electricity supplier) or hire a meter from Powerwatch (£35/week)
with instructions and measure them yourself.
14 extra cases of skin cancer
These are based on a risk assessment based on increased skin exposure to radon radioactive
decay products and other carcinogenic agents via the 50 Hz oscillation of these particles
within about 50 metres of high-voltage overhead power lines.
250-400 extra cases of lung cancer and a few
thousand other illnesses associated with air pollution
Risk assessment based on increased exposure to air pollution via corona
ion effects.
60 extra suicides and a causative factor in many
tens of thousands of cases of clinical depression
Considered biologically plausible via magnetic field exposure with an
apparent low threshold of 0.1 microtesla. 40% excess in suicide first found in the
West Midlands and published in 1981 (!!!!) but not admitted by the NRPB. Increase in
depressive illness that may be VERY widespread ~ a 2 to 3 fold increase found in severe
clinical depression, and a 2 to 3.6 fold increase in suicide among electric utility
workers.
For over five years, some multinational companies (including the World Bank) have been specifying low levels of power frequency magnetic fields (less than 0.2 microtesla, uT) for their new building designs.
A Swiss Ordinance (ORNI) that came into force on 1st February 2000 sets the maximum magnetic field from electricity supply installations at 1 uT. It requires the owners of such installations to arrange conductors and equipment in order to minimise magnetic fields that extent into work or living areas of property.
A document on EMF bio-effects from the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection, known as Tamino proposals, was discussed by the European Commission. A version was then passed by the European Parliament in plenary [10.03.99 item 19] but rejected by the Council of Ministers as too costly to implement. Proposals included one to limit ambient of power-frequency flux to about 0.2 microtesla.
Since about 1995 there have been a series of peer-reviewed scientific papers from different laboratories showing a significant inhibition of Tamoxifen’s oncostatic function when the ambient power-frequency magnetic flux is 1.2 uT or higher. TAMOXIFEN IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED DRUGS TO TREAT BREAST CANCER. Although these findings have not yet been incorporated into any legislation, from a Health & Safety viewpoint it does give a valid cause for concern in the workplace.
The SwissRe 1996 publication "Electrosmog ~ a phantom Risk" should also be consulted as an indication of insurance industry thinking in these matters. In 1998 a working group of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences classified power frequency EMFs as a "probable human carcinogen" in the same category as DDT, although the final printed 1999 NIEHS report was weaker.
We are regularly called in to track down the causes of high magnetic fields in offices. Not only are these likely to cause direct health problems, but over about 0.8 uT they cause computer screens to flicker or shimmer. It is illegal, under the EU and UK Display Screen Regulations, for workers to use such computer displays. The causes include faults in internal building wiring and EMFs from local electricity substations and underground distribution cables. Eastern Electricity (now 24-7) and have recently been very positive about helping solve these problems, but Southern Electricity claim ignorance about the problem and have not been co-operative to date. We are currently involved in a dispute with East Midlands Electricity over very high (over 25 uT) fields from an old substation of theirs that are polluting a neighbouring office. They have refused to co-operate in installing shielding to reduce the severe problem, a very anti-social attitude.
We also know of several schools that had high fields (over 1 uT) due to internal wiring problems. I feel that power-frequency magnetic field measurements (which are easy to do) should be a regular part of maintenance inspections. This is not a reason to panic, but there is not good reason for ambient magnetic fields in buildings to exceed 0.1 uT. However, a precautionary approach is urgently needed.
Maureen Asbury (Trentham Campaign Group, p10
Sunday Times printed edition) may be contacted today (Sunday) on 01782 658 648 (UK)
To find out further information you can call the Electromagnetic Hazard
& Therapy premium rate helpline anytime on 0906 401 0237 (£1.50 / minute)
UK Department of Health meeting (9th February 2001) launched £7m microwave related research fund. Preliminary outline applications to be in by 31st March 2001.
Previous NEWS
archived today.
REFs:
Childhood leukaemia and magnetic fields
Ahlbom A, Day N, Feychting M, Roman E, Skinner J, Dockerty J, McBride M, Michaelis J., Olsen J H, Tynes T and Verkasalo P K, 2000. A pooled analysis of magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia, British Journal of Cancer 83(5), 692-698.
Greenland S, Sheppard A R, Kaune W T, Poole C and Kelsh M A, 2000. A pooled analysis of magnetic fields, wire codes and childhood leukaemia. Epidemiology, 11, 624-634.
Microwave News, Vol. XX, No. 5, September/October 2000, ISSN 0275-6595, PO Box 1799, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163.
UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators (UKCCS)., 1999. Exposure to power-frequency magnetic fields and the risk of childhood cancer. Lancet, 354, 1925-31.
Childhood leukaemia, air pollution and parental exposure
Nordlinder R and Järvholm B, 1997. Environmental exposure to gasoline and leukaemia in children and young adults - an ecological study. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 70, 57-60.
Pearson R L, Wachtel H and Ebi K L, 2000. Distance-weighted traffic density in proximity to a home is a risk factor for leukaemia and other childhood cancers. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 50, 175-180.
Savitz D A and Feingold L, 1989, Association of childhood cancer with residential traffic density. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health, 15, 360-363.
Savitz D A and Chen J, 1990. Parental Occupation and Childhood Cancer: Review of Epidemiologic Studies. Environmental Health Perspectives, 88, 325-337.
Shu X O, Stewart P, Wen W-Q, Han D, Potter J D, Buckley J D, Heineman E and Robison L L, 1999. Parental occupational exposure to hydrocarbons and risk of acute lymphocytic leukaemia in offspring. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 8, 783-791.
Skin cancer
1. Fews A P, Henshaw D L, Keitch P A, Close J J and Wilding R J, 1999b. Increased exposure to pollutant aerosols under high voltage power lines. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 75(12), 1505-1521.
Assessment of Skin Doses. Documents of the NRPB, Volume 8, No. 3, 1997. Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0RQ.
3. Preece A W, Iwi G R and Etherington D J, 1996. Radon, skin cancer and interaction with power lines. US Department of Energy Contractors Review Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, 17-21.
Increased exposure to air pollution near powerlines
Carter P J and Johnson G B, 1988. Space charge measurements downwind from a monopolar 500 kV HVDC Test Line, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 3, 2056-2063,
Erren T C, 1996. Re: Association between exposure to pulsed electromagnetic fields and cancer in electric utility workers in Quebec, Canada, and France. Am J Epidemiol, 143: 841.
Fews A P, Henshaw D L, Wilding R J and Keitch P A, 1999a. Corona ions from powerlines and increased exposure to pollutant aerosols. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 75(12), 1523-1531.
Fews A P, Henshaw D L, Keitch P A, Close J J and Wilding R J, 1999b. Increased exposure to pollutant aerosols under high voltage powerlines. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 75(12), 1505-1521.
Fews A P, Wilding R J, Holden N K, Keitch P A and Henshaw D L. Lung cancer risk estimate in people living near high voltage powerlines. To be presented at the 23rd Annual Bioelectromagnetics Meeting, June 10-14, 2001, St Paul, Minnesota.
McDowall M E, 1986. Mortality of persons resident in the vicinity of electricity transmission facilities. British Journal of Cancer, 53: 271-279.
Air pollution
Allen J O, Dookeran N M, Smith K A, Sarofim A F, Taghizadeh K and Lafleur A L, 1996. Measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with size-segregated atmospheric aerosols in Massachusetts. Environmental Science Technology, 30, 1023-1031.
Cohen B S, Xiong J Q, Fang Ching-Ping and Li W, 1998. Deposition of charged particles on lung airways. Health Physics, 74(5), 554-560.
Harrison, R M, Smith J T and Luhana L, 1996. Source apportionment of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons collected from an urban location in Birmingham, UK. Environmental Science Technology, 30, 825-832.
Katsouyanni K and Pershagen G, 1997. Ambient Air Pollution Exposure and Cancer. Cancer Causes and Control, 8, 284-291.
Seaton A, MacNee W, Donaldson K and Godden D, 1995. Particulate air pollution and acute health effects. The Lancet, 345, 176-78.
Venkataraman C and Raymond J, 1998. Estimating the lung deposition of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with multimodal urban aerosols. Inhalation Toxicology, 10, 183-204.
Venkataraman C, Thomas S and Kulkarni P, 1999. Size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - gas/particle partitioning to urban aerosols. Journal of Aerosol Science, 30, 759-770.
Depression & Suicide
Beale I L, Pearce N E, Conroy D M, Henning M A and Murrell K A, 1997. Psychological Effects of Chronic Exposure to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields in Humans Living Near Extra-High-Voltage Transmission Lines. Bioelectromagnetics, 18, 584-594.
Dowson D I, Lewith G T, Campbell M, Mullee M and Brewster L A, 1988. Overhead High-Voltage Cables and Recurrent Headache and Depressions. The Practitioner, 232, 435-436.
Perry F S, Reichmanis M, Marino A A and Becker R O, 1981. Environmental Power-Frequency Magnetic Fields and Suicide. Health Physics, 41, 267-277.
Perry S, Pearl L and Binns R, 1989. Power Frequency Magnetic Field: Depressive Illness and Myocardial Infarction. Public Health, 103, 177-180.
Poole C, Kavet R, Funch D P, Donelan K, Charry J M and Dreyer N A, 1993. Depressive Symptoms and Headaches in Relation to Proximity of Residence to an Alternating-Current Transmission Line Right-of-way. American Journal of Epidemiology, 137, 318-330.
Reichmanis M, Perry F S, Marino A A and Becker R O, 1979. Relation Between Suicide and the Electromagnetic Field of Overhead Power Lines. Physiology Chemistry & Physics, 11, 395-403.
Savitz D A, Boyle C A and Holmgreen P, 1994. Prevalence of Depression Among Electrical Workers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 25, 165-176.
Van Wijngaarden E V, Savitz D A, Kleckner R C, Cai J and Loomis D, 2000. Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields and Suicide Among Electric Utility Workers: A Nested Case-Control study. WJM, 173, 94-100.
Verkasalo P K, Kaprio J, Varjonen J, Romanov K, Heikkilä K and Koskenvuo M., 1997. Magnetic Fields of Transmission Lines and Depression. American Journal of Epidemiology, 146, 1037-1045.
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