Two words that in recent times have been linked. Some said that living near transmission lines have its ill effects. While other would debunk that, calling it a myth.
Transmission Lines, or power lines in general has been feared not only due its high voltage, but feared that it has bad effects on the human's body, particularly that could cause leukemia and any other forms of cancer.
That not much have been said about the relationship of Power Lines and Cancer in an official terms. This entry is about a collection of news, articles that may be of help in understanding this sensitive issue.
There is in no way that the site condemn or defend those in the Power Transmission Lines Business. Feel free to leave some comments, and suggest links similar to the ones provided below.
Power Transmission Lines and Cancer, and everything in between.
Do High-Voltage Power Lines Cause Cancer
(Studies link Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) To Illness)
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that invisible electromagnetic fields (EMFs) -- created by everything from high-voltage utility company lines to personal computers, microwave ovens, TVs and even electric blankets -- are linked to a frightening array of cancers and other serious health problems in children and adults.
Though it received scant attention from the mainstream press, a report leaked last October from the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection said there is a powerful body of impressive evidence showing that even very low exposure to electromagnetic radiation has long-term effects on health.
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FAQ for Health Effects of Transmission Power Line Magnetic and Electric Fields
This FAQ is designed to answer in a brief and readily accessible format questions frequently asked about the dangers associated with exposure to magnetic and electric fields emitted by transmission power lines.
The questions contained herein confined only to issues associated with the extremely low frequency electro magnetic fields (ELF-EMF) associated with transmission power lines. Similar issues have been raised concerning the high frequency magnetic fields associated with cell phones. These high frequency fields have impacts that differ from those associated with power lines and, therefore, this FAQ does not apply to them.
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Childhood Leukemia Risk Doubles Within 100 Meters of High Voltage Power Lines
This result from the OXFORD CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH GROUP study, headed by Gerald Draper analysed and compared 33 years of data (from1962 to1995) on 35,000 children diagnosed with cancer, with their distance to the nearest electricity transmission line.
These latest findings from the Draper study of a direct effect on childhood leukaemia from U.K. power lines follow from the acknowledged International studies that the risk of childhood leukaemia is doubled for magnetic field exposures above 0.4 microtesla, well below that seen under high voltage powerlines.
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Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) and Your Health
In brief, there is a suggestion which has appeared in many (but not all) studies of children living near power lines that such exposure can approximately double the risk of leukemia and/or brain tumors. Evidence is less clear for adults, but suggests the possibility of similar risks.
Risks of breast cancer, depression, and other negative health effects are based on much more limited evidence and are even more speculative. There is enough information to have some concern, but not enough to set exposure standards. There is also a lack of clear evidence from laboratory evidence from laboratory experiments to indicate what protective measures (if any) would be appropriate or to demonstrate to everyone's satisfaction a mechanism which could explain such an effect of powerline fields.
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Health Risks Associated with Living Near High-Voltage Power Line
In 1995, the American Physical Society (APS) spoke out on the question of power-line EMFs and health effects. The APS policy statement reads, in part: "The scientific literature and the reports of reviews by other panels show no consistent, significant link between cancer and power line fields.
While it is impossible to prove that no deleterious health effects occur from exposure to any environmental factor, it is necessary to demonstrate a consistent, significant, and causal relationship before one can conclude that such effects do occur. From this standpoint, the conjectures relating cancer to power line fields have not been scientifically substantiated." (See APS Policy Statement 95.2 reaffirmed in 2005.)
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Myths and Realities: Do Power Lines Cause Cancer?
Although the Wertheimer study spurred the scientific community to publish hundreds of subsequent studies attempting to draw a correlation between EMFs and a variety of cancer types in differing age groups, the majority of studies have focused on hematologic malignancies in children.
I am pleased to report that the literature has failed to demonstrate any consistent and statistically significant evidence to suggest a relationship. Most studies have been plagued by limitations in design including small sample size, unblinded investigators and the use of wiring codes as surrogates for EMFs. Detractors of the original study criticize Wertheimer’s incorrect assumption that the wiring code of a home could be used as a surrogate for EMF exposure and that EMFs levels were not directly measured.
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Children Living Near a High-voltage Power Line at Birth at Increased Risk for Childhood Leukemia
Children who lived less than 200 meters away from a high voltage power line at birth were 70% more likely to develop leukemia than children who lived more 600 meters away at birth.
Children who lived between 200 and 599 meters away from a high voltage power line at birth were 23% more likely to develop leukemia than children who lived more than 600 meters away. The increased risk remained, even after the researchers took the children’s socioeconomic status into consideration.
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Power Lines and Cancer: Nothing to Fear
The notion that electric power lines can cause cancer arose in 1979 with a single flawed epidemiogical study that created a stir. Subsequent epidemiologic and animal studies have failed to find a consistent and significant effect.
No plausible mechanism linking power lines and cancer has been found. In recent years, the verdict from large-scale scientific studies has been conclusively negative, and scientific and medical societies have issued official statements that power lines are not a significant health risk. In short, there is nothing to worry about.
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