16 March 2001
The CEO of ARPANSA, Dr John Loy, announced a number of commitments in Sydney today reflecting his assessment of last week’s report by the Advisory Group on Non Ionising Radiation to the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) on extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields and the risk of cancer.
Dr Loy said “I must stress that the extensive review of scientific research conducted by the Advisory Group found some epidemiological evidence that prolonged exposure to higher household levels of ELF electromagnetic fields is associated with a small risk of leukaemia in children. The evidence is not new and nor is it strong enough to justify a firm conclusion that such fields cause leukaemia in children, although that possibility remains”.
Dr Loy added “It is precisely because that possibility remains that I now
make the following observations and commitments:
1. Australians need clear
and unambiguous information on ELF electromagnetic fields. ARPANSA will
prepare a new fact sheet as a matter of urgency in consultation with the
Radiation Health Committee and make it widely available through the Internet and
other outlets. Additional support for widespread distribution of this fact
sheet may be sought from the electricity supply industry.
2. A protocol
should be prepared soon to ensure that measurements of adult and child exposures
to ELF electromagnetic fields are done reliably and consistently, using a method
suitable for the household setting. I recommend that ARPANSA prepare this
measurement protocol in consultation with other expert organisations.
3. The
percentage of Australian homes exposed to higher levels of ELF electromagnetic
fields is not known for certain, though there is little reason to believe they
will differ from homes in other advanced countries. However, I am putting
the idea of a large-scale survey of average exposures across Australia to the
Radiation Health Committee, for it to report to the Radiation Health and Safety
Council.
4. The National Health and Medical Research Council published the
Australian health standard for exposure to ELF fields in 1989, entitled “Interim
guidelines on limits of exposure to 50/60Hz electric and magnetic fields”.
Current evidence provides no basis for re-writing these guidelines, but I will
nonetheless ask the Radiation Health Committee to review them”.
The many sources of ELF around us include high voltage powerlines on pylons, powerlines on telephone poles, electrical wiring in buildings and electric appliances. Most of the fields experienced in a day come from sources other than powerlines. Another important difference between these sources is ELF electromagnetic fields from powerlines are continuous, whereas those from electric appliances are usually intermittent.
There is no laboratory or epidemiological evidence that electromagnetic fields cause cancer in general. It therefore does not appear that ELF magnetic fields are a broad carcinogen.
Epidemiological studies observe people’s health and evaluate whether groups that have high or unusual EMF exposure have a greater chance of developing a disease like cancer than groups with more typical exposure.
A complete copy of Dr Loy’s advice entitled “Does Electricity Cause Cancer?” is available on ARPANSA’s web site. This web site also shows the membership and function of the Radiation Health and Safety Council and the Radiation Health Committee.
The main conclusions and recommendations of the NRPB Advisory Group on Non
Ionising Radiation report can be found at the following web address: www.nrpb.org.uk
ENDS