Re: NCRP EMF report

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

> Does this all mean that I will have to replace the electric cable 
> heating system in my home? 

Keeping in mind:
1) this is a committee draft that has not even been accepted by the committee, 
let alone reviewed or approved by NCRP.
2) only part of the draft has been leaked.
3) at least in the material leaked to date there is no discussion of the time 
or space averaging to be used.  Keeping peak levels below 0.2 microT would be 
much harder than maintaining a 0.2 microT average over a reasonable time 
(hours) or space (sq meter) base.

Under the draft's option 2, your heating system would almost certainly violate 
the exposure guideline.  Of course, essentially every device in your house 
that has an electric heating element or an electric motor will also violate 
the guideline.  The electrical drop to your house will also probably violate 
the guideline, as will your household wiring if your house is old or has 
ground current loops.

The draft appears to recognize this, saying "mitigation of existing fields 
needed to achieve general compliance would appear impractical at this time"

Note also in this context that guesstimates of the cost of reducing fields 
from powerlines (distribution and transmission) to 2 mG (0.2 microT) are in 
the $50 - $500 billion range.  The range is big because:
 -- no one really knows how to do this for the distribution systems in older 
urban areas 
 -- no one really knows what the financial implications are of widening 
existing rights-of-ways (with the accompanying condemnation of existing 
buildings)
 -- it depends where and how the levels will be measured
 -- on one really knows what the economic implications of the resulting rise 
in electricity rates will be (the estimates of mitigation costs are high 
compared to the $13 billion spent annually in the US for electricity 
transmission and distribution, so the rate impact may be large).

On a less serious side: think what this will do for the job security of the 
existing handful of mitigation and safety consultants (:
------------------------------------
John Moulder (jmoulder@its.mcw.edu)
Maintainer:  Powerlines & Cancer FAQs, 
             Static Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer FAQs
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