Questions and Answers About EMF Electric and Magnetic Fields Associated with the Use of Electrical Power.
January 1995.

Government Actions

Q. What have governmental reviews concluded about EMFs and cancer?

A. Most recent reviews have concluded that the existing evidence, although suggestive, does not show that EMFs cause cancer. These include national reviews by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination, the Australian Minister of Health, the National Radiological Protection Board of the United Kingdom, the Danish Ministry of Health, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and reviews sponsored by the states of California, Texas, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, and Colorado.

The Swedish government issued a public information document in May 1994 that states, "We suspect that magnetic fields may pose certain risks to health, but we cannot be certain." While research is under way to pin this down, the report continues, "there is good reason to exercise a certain amount of caution." The Swedish government recommends against locating new homes and schools near existing electricity generating plants and proposes that high magnetic fields in homes, schools, and workplaces be limited. It specifically states, however, that "current knowledge is not sufficient for us to tell how magnetic fields affect us. So we do not have a basis on which to set [exposure] limits."

In nearby Denmark, a government agency concluded there was no scientific reason to establish magnetic field standards for high-current lines.

Some Quotes From National EMF Reviews

"Some of the epidemiological evidence is suggestive of an association between surrogate measurements of magnetic-field exposure and certain cancer outcomes...[lack of sufficient data] prevents the inference of cancer causality form these associations at this time."

- U. S. EPA Science Advisory Board 1991

"It has not been scientifically established that magnetic fields of extremely low frequency initiate or promote cancer or have any other harmful effects on humans. However, it has not been scientifically established that such fields are not harmful."

- Advisory Panel to Australian Minister of Health 1992

"The epidemiologic findings that have been reviewed provide no firm evidence of the existence of a carcinogenic hazard from exposure [to EMF]...the findings to date can be regarded only as sufficient to justify formulating a hypothesis for testing by further investigations"

- U. K. National Radiological Protection Broad 1992

"The Danish and Swedish study supports the hypothesis of previous studies that children living near high- current plants have an increased frequency of cancer. But the results do not exclude the possibility that the association might be due to chance."

-Danish Ministry of Health 1993

"The epidemiologic results presently available do not permit the exclusion of a role for magnetic fields in the incidence of leukemia, particularly in children. New investigations are necessary to confirm or deny this role"

-French National Institute of Health and Medical Research 1993

"We suspect that magnetic fields may pose certain risks to health, but we cannot be certain...There is good reason to exercise a certain amount of caution."

-Swedish National Electrical Safety Board 1994