ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

This study concerns exposure to magnetic fields generated by powerlines. Since the magnetic field around powerlines is not a function of voltage but of current it includes proximity to domestic powerlines as well as high tension lines.

The NRPB (National Radiation Protection Board - UK) Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) has released their conclusions and recommendations for research on Power Frequency Electromagnetic Fields and the Risk of Cancer.

The report contains nothing that was not previously known and concludes:

Laboratory experiments have provided no good evidence that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields are capable of producing cancer, nor do human epidemiological studies suggest that they cause cancer in general. There is, however, some epidemiological evidence that prolonged exposure to higher levels of power frequency magnetic fields is associated with a small risk of leukaemia in children. In practice, such levels of exposure are seldom encountered by the general public in the UK. In the absence of clear evidence of a carcinogenic effect in adults, or of a plausible explanation from experiments on animals or isolated cells, the epidemiological evidence is currently not strong enough to justify a firm conclusion that such fields cause leukaemia in children. Unless, however, further research indicates that the finding is due to chance or some currently unrecognised artefact, the possibility remains that intense and prolonged exposures to magnetic fields can increase the risk of leukaemia in children.

In relation to animal studies the report concluded:

Overall, no convincing evidence was seen from a review of a large number of animal studies to support the hypothesis that exposure to power frequency electro-magnetic fields increases the risk of cancer

The report commented on residential studies (see Linet for example) in which magnetic fields in homes where children having leukemia are compared with children in similar residences but not having leukemia:

Recent large and well-conducted studies have provided better evidence than was available in the past on the relationship between power frequency magnetic field exposure and the risk of cancer. Taken in conjunction they suggest that relatively heavy average exposures of 0.4 µT (4 milligauss) or more are associated with a doubling of the risk of leukaemia in children under 15 years of age. The evidence is, however, not conclusive. In those studies in which measurements were made, the extent to which the more heavily exposed children were representative is in doubt, while in those in Nordic countries in which representativeness is assured, the fields were estimated and the results based on such small numbers that the findings could have been due to chance

Related ARPANSA Links

• Residential Exposure to Magnetic Fields and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children.
• Comments on Pooled Analysis Study of Magnetic Fields and Childhood Cancer (childhood leukemia)
• The United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Conclusion on Health Effects of Electric and Magnetic Fields
• 50Hz Electric and Magnetic Fields
• The Controversy Over Electromagnetic Fields and Possible Adverse Health Effects
• Distance of Place of Residence from Dense Traffic; An Alternative to 50Hz Magnetic fields as a Risk Factor for Leukemia and Other Childhood Cancers?
• Non Ionizing Radiation Links

Related External Links

• See the ABC interview of a researcher in the field.

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