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

Human Health Studies

Q. If EMFs really do cause or promote cancer, shouldn't cancer rates have increased along with the increased use of electricity?

A. Not necessarily. Although use of electricity has increased greatly over the years (right), EMF exposures have probably not increased in the same way. Changes in the way that buildings are wired and in the way electrical appliances are made have in some cases resulted in lower magnetic field levels. Rates for various types of cancer have shown both increases and decreases through the years

For example, mortality rates (deaths) for the two most common cancers in children have decreased because of better treatment. Incidence rates (numbers of new cases), however, have tended to increase for unknown reasons. (Reliable data on incidence rates only became available beginning in the early 1970s.) Incidence rates can reflect changes in exposures to various environmental agents, and they are also affected by changes in how cancers are diagnosed and reported.

The effect of a major cancer risk factor, like smoking, is evident in the historic lung cancer rates. The possible effect of EMFs would be mixed with those of many other factors having small or moderate risks to certain segments of the population. The individual contribution of these factors would be difficult to separate in the overall cancer rates.

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