NAS

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES/NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (U.S.), 1997

In response to a request from the U.S. Congress, the National Academy of Sciences directed its research arm, the National Research Council, to report on possible health risks from low-level power-frequency fields. The full report, entitled “Possible Health Effects of Exposure to Residential Electric and Magnetic Fields,” was published in 1997.

Conclusions:
“Based on a comprehensive evaluation of published studies relating to the effects of power-frequency electric and magnetic fields on cells, tissues, and organisms (including humans), the conclusion of the committee is that the current body of evidence does not show that exposure to these fields presents a human-health hazard. Specifically, no conclusive and consistent evidence shows that exposures to residential electric and magnetic fields produce cancer, adverse neurobehavioral effects, or reproductive and developmental effects…..An association between residential wiring configuration (called wire codes…) and childhood leukemia persists in multiple studies, although the causative factor responsible for that statistical association has not been identified. No evidence links contemporary measurements of magnetic-field levels to childhood leukemia.”

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