Re: Power Lines and Magnetic Fields

[John Moulder <jmoulder@post.its.mcw.edu>]

> One wonders how power lines became suspect of health hazards given 
> that the preponderance of data supports the contrary.  I put this 
> question to a power authority official... 
> she answered that the concern over the safety of power lines grew out 
> of lawsuits related to the devaluation of real estate

Basically she right, this is litigation driven, although it's not all property 
value litigation.  An equally large portion has been "toxic tort" litigation 
where the plaintiff alleges that a specific cancer was caused by a specific 
exposure.

> but why would 
> so many people spend so much money on investigating a health risk 
> without supporting epidemiological data? 

Most of the funding for this comes from set asides (money that is committed to 
research on power-frequency effects).  In the US this is:
1 - EPRI (electrical power research institute), the research arm of the 
electrical utilities.  These utilities have been told by various regulatory 
agencies to investigate the issue.
2- NIEHS (national institute for environmental health and safety) which has 
been directed by congress to fund research in this area.
John Moulder (jmoulder@its.mcw.edu)
Maintainer:  Powerlines & Cancer FAQs
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