Electricity may cause cancer, leukaemia, depression, etc.

Ok everyone, get your alarmist hats on tight over your already firmly planted tin-foil ones. We've heard the argument made before -- and believe us, it's a tough sell to us gadget dorks, but two official Department of Health reports, a Health Protection Agency (HPA) meeting, and the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) have all convened on today's scary gadget-related disease du jour sure to make the hypochondriacs and "electric allergics" cringe with self-justification. The bend is to convince everyone that electromagnetic "smog" -- excessive electrical, radio, and microwave pollution -- could "interfere with the tiny natural electrical currents" of our nervous systems, as concluded by a National Radiological Protection Board survey that found children living close to power lines were developing leukaemia. Sure, that study might be getting a little post hoc ergo propter hoc on us, but the WHO and other health specialists are now beginning to blame electromagnetic fields as being a "likely cause" of up to 30% of childhood cancers, adult leukaemia, depression, brain cancers, possibly breast cancer, and even up to 1/10th of all miscarriages. Bold claims, and they kind of lost us when they got into the "allergic to electricity" argument, but hey, who are we to argue with peoples' gadgety ailments? Perhaps it's time for Engadget to pack up shop and move to the mountains to. Who's with us -- post-Engadget gadget-recovery commune? Nobody? Aight, we'll see this one through, then, like the rest of them.

[J @ May 8th 2006 4:21PM]

I'd write a longer comment but I have to shut off my PC now to reduce exposure.

[cody @ May 8th 2006 4:30PM]

we are all screwed...

[comrade @ May 8th 2006 4:32PM]

Who knew? So when does the talking dolphin show up?

[LC @ May 8th 2006 4:42PM]

I wonder if they took into account that areas around high transmission power lines also tend to be neighborhoods that are hear high traffic roads that belch car exhaust all day, industrial/chemical plants and storage warehouses, etc.

They should instead focus their studies on linemen who work with these powerlines everyday as well as those who work in substations maintaining them. They are in these high transmissions stations every say.


Just more junk science.

[Terry @ May 8th 2006 4:44PM]

Makes a certain amount of sense in my crazy mind. I mean, you can hear the hum of high voltage wires... the soundwaves are making their way to your ears from the wires, why not other forms of energy? And most of us city dwellers are constantly bombared at all times, everyday, our whole life. Don't you wonder how that effects us? I mean it is kind of a new development...

Maybe that wierd feeling people get after spending a few days in more rural areas is really the physical effects of our bodies experiencing electrical withdrawl?

I came up with all this one night while drinking in my backyard. (and listening to the power lines, natch) can I have a NIH grant?

[SLUSHIE @ May 8th 2006 4:44PM]

What about the electrical current that is natrualy found in everyones body?

[nein @ May 8th 2006 4:47PM]

studies about this exact thing have been held back in the past. this is nothing new per se, but iirc the government was worried about how people would "freak the f*ck out" and eventually wind up costing them a bunch of money.


my grandfather lived near one of those massive things.. probably 50-100ft behind his house. out of nowhere he got a horribly agressive brain tumor - one week after his death, the dog developed a bad brain tumor as well and died asap. coincidence? maybe... but he was also a EE that worked on and around -- and happened to live next to powerlines, all his life.

i firmly believe anything in excess can give you cancer (or at least it seems that way) -- but i don't see how living next to those huge multi-tiered lines causing cancer is far-fetched.

[Todd @ May 8th 2006 4:47PM]

Like in Johnny Mnemonic? The "black shakes" or whatever they called it when people got to much radiation from technology?

[Steev Packard @ May 8th 2006 4:58PM]

Did they happen to mention that kids watching tv or sitting next to an electric lamp are exposed to more intense emf than those who are 50 yards from power lines?

Three words: Inverse Square Law.

Look it up before you move your house.

[Andrew @ May 8th 2006 5:02PM]

thank you for making my hypochondriac head hurt.

[Brian from Texas @ May 8th 2006 5:14PM]

I'm still better off than those in Darfur. Team America - Fuc|< YEAH!

[David Grant @ May 8th 2006 5:21PM]

I think at least some thought needs to be given to what the receptor is. For instance, sound has a biological effect because we have receptors for the energy and a transducer to convert the sound energy to a form that our nervous system can process. Ditto for light (optical energy) or temperature (heat energy). I have yet to hear any competent scientist suggest a way that low frequency EM fields could be coupled to any intracellular process to cause the mutation(s) needed for a cell to become cancerous. Not saying it _couldn't_ happen but as a molecular geneticist I would be much more inclined to take this seriously if there was a plausible explanation for how the effect was exerted on the cell.

[Tim @ May 8th 2006 5:34PM]

that'll explain why im losing the feeling in the left side of my body which is closest to my wifi dongle on my comp.

[Mark Ring @ May 8th 2006 5:37PM]

I work in the power industry. My entire family works in the power industry. NO ONE has experienced the health problems described. I wonder why the men and women I work with haven't dropped over dead by now?

By the way, the magnetic field that develops along any electrical conductor, low or high voltage, doesn't radiate to infinity. With alternating current the field collapses and expands every cycle limiting the "size" of the field.

AM, FM or Microwave frequencies can theoretically continue on to infinity. I'm not aware of any studies to determine whether those signals, which we wade through everyday, cause physical damage...wait a minute...Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh just came to mind...never mind.

[DN @ May 8th 2006 5:39PM]

What about those that live next to AM radio antennas--those are designed to radiate unlike power lines -- nominally 50,000 watts in some cases. In my commmunity there are people living less than 500 yards from the base coil

[Mike @ May 8th 2006 5:58PM]

I love the mountains. Lets go! :-P I think the advantages of electrcity/tech outweigh the disadvantages.

[J3 @ May 8th 2006 5:59PM]

makes sense, to me anyways. Why is there such a high rate of depression and cancer compared to 100 years ago? think about it...

[Crook @ May 8th 2006 6:06PM]

This is about as factual at the flying spaghetti monster.

Junk science.

[Spec @ May 8th 2006 7:11PM]

Quantumphysics on xboxlive: Quit trying to sound intelligent just because you chose to put 'quantum physics' in your screen name. The inverse square law ALWAYS applies to electromagnetic radiation. It may NOT be selectively applied (or omitted) by those who do not understand the science. The fact is the strength of ALL electormagnetic radiation falls off the farther it gets from the point of emission. The farther you are, the weaker the exposure.

Also, electromagnetic radiation DOES NOT penetrate everything as you said. Much, if not all, of it is absorbed by just about anything depending on wavelength. Anyone who has had poor cell phone reception inside a building can attest to that.

Your comment about 'TVs and lamps' not being high voltage are also incorrect. Wall current, although lower than the high tension lines that deliver it, are considered high voltage. There has not been a TV manufactured in the last 30 years that doesn't carry a warning of just that. Further more, power lines DO NOT 'produce' thousands of volts. They carry it. HUGE difference.

Lastly, don't rip off wikipedia in order to make yourself sound smart. All the drivel about serotonin was directly copied from wikipedia. Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, GO BACK TO SLASHDOT! The comments here DO NOT need a plagiarizing ignoramus mucking them up.

To #16: Glad to hear you and the fam is OK, but the notion that an alternating field is 'limited' is complete bullshit. Whether it's 60[K|M|H|T]Hz, if it's electromegnetic, it travels at the speed of light. The size of the field is proportional to the power being radiated.

To #18: The answer is "George Bush"

[Scott @ May 8th 2006 8:25PM]

One thing to keep in mind is that those large high-voltage power lines are NOT shielded, unlike wiring in your house or office and the gadgets you use everyday. That in itself could be why people get sick when exposed to high-voltage lines. There is no shielding.

[LC @ May 8th 2006 8:54PM]

"One thing to keep in mind is that those large high-voltage power lines are NOT shielded, unlike wiring in your house or office and the gadgets you use everyday. That in itself could be why people get sick when exposed to high-voltage lines. There is no shielding."

Lines in the home or on electronics are shielded to protect from electrocution from contact. They do not shield from EMF. I work for an electric utility and have worked in substations varing fom 4 kv to 138kv every working day for the past 9 years. I have not noticed any increased rate of cancer among the people I work with, who have been exposed to the same conditions who have worked there for even 20 years. We are also a lot closer to the bus work and the transformers than residents are the transmission towers.

To date there has been zero proof to support any form of cancer or depression related to power lines. If they seriously wanted to do a study, they could have studied utility workers that work closer and under higher exposure to such conditions whre they most likely would not have found any difference in the cancer rate than most jobs.

[abburdlen @ May 8th 2006 9:20PM]

Did the researchers in this study account for the fact the the people who tend to have a plethora of electronic devices tend to lead more stressful lives? Could it also be that they tend not to get as much exercise? Tend to eat more fast food? Nah, much more exciting to call it electric smog.

[anonymous @ May 8th 2006 10:00PM]

There are power lines about 40 feet from my window :(

[Ioannus de Verani @ May 8th 2006 10:03PM]

I agree with spec. Mr. Quantum Physics: you are stupid. A. you shouldn't try to sound smart using other peoples' intelligence, and B. if you had something of consequence to say, you would be able to say it yourself, and C. why do I think you are egotistical *and* unintelligent? (... don't tell anyone, it might have something to do with the fact that your screenname is "Quantum Physics on xbox live"

--A not so humble admirer

[joe @ May 8th 2006 10:18PM]

All you people posting long comments- that 2 years off your life! -might not even be able to spread ur seeds!>

[Dash Dingo @ May 8th 2006 10:23PM]

Du Jour means "crash positions."

Seriously though, isn't that from Josie and the Pussycats?

[anonymouse @ May 9th 2006 12:42AM]

Quantumphysics: There is NO SHAME in quoting your sources. In fact, it's the best way to cover your a**. That way, people aren't arguing with -you-, they're arguing with the source. This is something you will learn when you grow up and become a professional quantum physicist. Doesn't matter what you copy (sadly), as long as you QUOTE YOUR SOURCE.

As for the idea that developed areas are more cancer-prone, well, I grew up in a very rural area, and the whole county has a strangely high number of people with brain tumors. Who knows why. Could be radiation deposits in the ground, could be farm run-off. So running to the hills may not save you. Your car will probably get hit on the way there ;)

#17 DN: "people living less than 500 yards from the base coil [of an AM station]" now that would worry me. That's a heck of a lot stronger than what you'd be getting from a power line. ok maybe now I'm getting a little paranoid too, but one of my profs in college used to work with microwave towers, and would tell us about guys who stood too close. They could actually hear their brains clicking. By then it was too late. I wouldn't want to live there.

[gerald mitton @ May 9th 2006 3:13AM]

There is a difference between saying "Electricity may cause cancer..." and "High voltage power lines may cause cancer..." which I think what your headline should be. But a lot of people have always suspected that anyway, so in a way, it's no news. It's all about the intensity of EMF people are exposed to (and for how long). So if you live close to one of those "monsters" you should worry for your health... There is still so much we don't know about the effects of EM or microwave radiation on biological cells. That's why I try to seriously limit the amount of time I spend talking on my mobile phone and I also avoid keeping it close to vital organs for long periods of time. Common sense...

[Claudiu Spulber @ May 9th 2006 3:14AM]

That's good news, especially if you live near a high transmission power line. We'll end up wearing clothes made of lead (hope this is used against magnetic waves too?!!).

[Molly @ May 9th 2006 10:55AM]

I didn't really believe in electromagnetic sensitivity (ES) until I got sick from stachybotrys mold. I met some other sick people, and I can name five off the top of my head who have ES, but all of them suffered similar environmental injuries *before* they got ES. It's not clear to me that you get ES without some pretty bad chemical exposures first, so the guys working on power lines in the fresh air are probably better off than people who work in moldy buildings.

[Timerider @ May 9th 2006 12:10PM]

I always thought those high voltage wires near my Grandma's retirement community were bad, definitly for a retirement commutnity. But I had a different reason; interfering with medical equipment and pacemakers. The community gardens are right under the wires and you can hear them hum. I feel weird when I stand under them.

[angela b @ Jun 15th 2006 4:24AM]

They say 1 out of 9 children that live near these high powered wires comes down with cancer. well there is a woman on my block that has nine children one was recenlty dx with cancer. there are high powered wires behind my house. someone please explain to me about there wires or send me in the right direction.

[Jolly @ Dec 10th 2006 12:37PM]

See for yourself what an electric station in the middle of a town can cause (use online translator if you cannot speak Spanish):

One neighbourhood, too many absences:
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/12/10/sociedad/s-01325300.htm

"In eleven blocks of Ezpeleta, south of Great Buenos Aires (Argentina, South America), there were 116 deaths and the same number of illnesses related to cancer. Neighbours claim that a high-tension electric station is responsible and demand it removed."

[sallie @ Apr 2nd 2007 2:58PM]

You guys might think this is nuts, but I have lived underneath a large line for 12 years. The first 6 I noticed that I was losing some motor skills and getting fatigue. The last 2 I have been home full time. They have chnged the lines out and the energy is sitting in dollys as I am told and they spark. Ours is the only one that does this however. In the past year, my fatigue has tripled, I can no longer stay up a whole day, my depression is SEVERE, I have gone to drs who have no answers put me on Antidepressents that are not working, and I am getting worse. They will measure my sertonum levels next. If they are depleted, this is another sign, so don;t dismiss it all. I was told when we bought this house IT WAS OK NO WORRIES!!!

[bullshit @ Jun 17th 2007 5:15AM]

If this is all true, stop this website hosting, your gonna Expose to the computer monitor, and having cancers and other ailment until you drop dead, and not making money.

[Caleb Kim @ Sep 27th 2007 4:28AM]

Until you have the first hand experience of it, you never seem to want
to even give your thought to it. I had been working at construction
site office where there was a high tension power lines transmission
tower pretty closeby, I didn't know what I was going through. I
started to feel a very strange sensation of helplessness and
powerlessness in my limbs and fell down in the couch at that time.
That was the first symptom I now recall. But without realizing what it was, I
went on looking for help from wrong doctors. And it was about after
several years of painful period of time that went by, which included
suffocation during sleep, inability to speak, seizures at times, I
finally collapsed at home, that I was carried to the hospital to be
diagnosed to be with brain tumor. It's been about 3 years since I had the brain
surgery. I never doubted that my condition could have had anything
to do with the high tension tower at the time of verdict. But as time went by I couldn't help
but trace back what happened to me to the fact that I was exposed to
the EMF during office hours (9AM-6PM) for about 5 years. And more and more reportage on
similar cases is being heard.

[MikeFatty @ May 20th 2009 1:51AM]

I don't think it's necessarily true that people especially large organisms such as an adult human or dog can occur illnesses such as cancer from EMF. What we should be concentrating on is developmental issues. We are not fully grown humans at all points in our lives and definitely a majority of us don't live near high voltage EMF centers. Those that live near high voltage EMF center can solve that problem quite easily and inexpensively. They can move. Now, what we should focus on, referring back to the developmental aspect of humans is that we, at some point are enveloped in single cell which is the size of all of our selves after we fully develop into our multicellular form or Adulthood. The effect of low EMF exposure is much greater on things of relative size, meaning that if 1200V at 60 hz can influence and epidermal skin cell and can penetrate still further causing mild changes that can be repaired, then we have to consider that these forces can and most likely influence conception and fetal development. Through our research on cigarettes and alcohol it can be deduced that a small amount of either of these things and the substances it contains can and does effect fetal development where as the adult suffers minor short term complications.

What i'm trying to say is that these forces are relative to size, if we were adult multicellular organisms then we can cope with the introduction of widespread and long term exposure to EMF. Being that at some point all of us are single cell diploid organisms, the influence of what we consider low impact from EMF is comparatively different for organisms of a different size. Take this as an example not as proof of my argument but maybe enough to warrant research. If we know that exposure to UV rays over 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for 8-10 years on an individual who's weight is 180 has a high probability to cause cancer then we can deduce that if that person weighs less the duration and intensity of exposure may also be less to lead to the same outcome.

if a 180lb individual exposed to 1200V at 60 hz over 16 years develops a malignant tumor then wouldn't an individual who weighs 2g be subject to developing a malignant tumor with less time of exposure or less intensity of EMF?

(The comparisons i'm using and the measurements i'm using are hypothetical. I'm merely using mock data to show that the relationships are present and that they do have effect. What needs to be addressed is at what point are we most vulerable.)