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GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO SAGE December 2007

SAGE is the Stakeholder Advisory Group on ELF EMFs - more The HPA's formal advice to Government about the SAGE First Assessment and the Government response have now been published.

DELAY TO PHYSICAL AGENTS DIRECTIVE October 2007

The EMF Physical Agents Directive was passed in Europe in 2004, and National Governments had until 2008 to bring it into national law. However, in October 2007, the European Commission announced a four-year delay. The intention is not just to delay the existing Directive but to use the extra time to rewrite it with different limits. This has been prompted largely by the realisation that the existing limits would restrict continued operation of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

More on the Directive on this site

More on the Commission website

BIOINITIATIVE REPORT August 2007

The Bioinitiative Report has been produced by a grouping which describes itself as "An international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals".It concludes that existing exposure limits are insufficient to protect against EMFs.

See their web site

SAGE FIRST INTERIM ASSESSMENT - April 2007

SAGE is the Stakeholder Advisory Group on ELF EMFs, the body analysing possible precautionary measures for EMFs and providing advice to Government. The SAGE First Interim Assessment was published in April 2007. It contains Recommendations for low-cost measures on house wiring, domestic appliances, and high-voltage power lines, and analyses, but recommends neither for nor against, an option for "corridors" round power lines.

See also: The SAGE website
More detail on SAGE on this website
download the Assessment itself and supporting papers

March 2007 - SCENIHR OPINION

SCENIHR is the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks.It adopted an Opinion on "Possible effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on human health" in March 2007, having previously (September 2006) issued a preliminary version for public consultation.

See:

A summary of the Opinion on this site

The full report

BEAULY-DENNY PUBLIC INQUIRY February 2007

In the UK, a public inquiry has opened into proposals to build a new high-voltage power line in Scotland, from Beauly to Denny. EMFs seem likely to feature among other issues. Evidence, including evidence on EMFs, submitted both by the companies applying for the line and by objectors to the line can be seen at the Inquiry web site
Note: this web site is maintained by National Grid. National Grid is not one of the companies involved in applying for this new power line.

HPA REPORT ON MELATONIN February 2006

The Health Protection Agency’s Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation have published a Report on melatonin. They look separately at:

• whether magnetic fields affect melatonin levels in people and conclude that there is no consistent or convincing evidence to indicate that EMFs can affect the production or action of melatonin
• whether melatonin can affect the risk of breast cancer, and concludes that the situation in humans is unclear.
• whether exposure to EMFs can affect the risk of breast cancer, and conclude that there is no consistent evidence for such an effect, nor has any mechanism for such a response been demonstrated.

See also:

• The full report
• The HPA press release

STUDY OF EMFs AND SURVIVAL FROM LEUKAEMIA January 2006

Most previous studies on magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia have looked at whether the fields cause the disease. A new study is the first to look at whether the fields affect survival from the disease.

• More detail on this study

HPA REPORT ON ELECTRICAL SENSITIVITY NOVEMBER 2005

HPA have published a new report written for them by an outside expert, Dr Neil Irvine. This report concentrates on describing the symptoms that are reported by electrosensitive people, rather than trying to decide whether these symptoms are caused by EMFs or not.

More details

MORE INFORMATION ON SOURCES OF FIELDS JULY 2005

HPA-RPD have been investigating the sources of the fields in homes with high fields, greater than 0.4 µT. They have found that 43% come from high-voltage overhead power lines, with the rest coming from low-voltage wiring both inside and outside the home.

More detail on this study

PUBLICATION OF CCRG STUDY

The CCRG epidemiological study of childhood cancer and proximity to power lines in the UK published its first results in the British Medical Journal in June 2005.
The study looked at roughly 30,000 cases of childhood cancer from 1962 to 1995 in England and Wales and calculated the distance of the birth address to the nearest high-voltage power line.
It found “While few children in England and Wales live close to high voltage power lines at birth, there is a slight tendency for the birth addresses of children with leukaemia to be closer to these lines than those of matched controls.”
more detail on this study including the abstract

For the electricity industry response to this study click here
For responses by other organisations click here

NRPB BECOME PART OF HPA

On 1 April 2005, the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) became part of the Health Protection Agency (HPA). They are now the Radiation Protection Division of HPA, part of the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards.

MEDIA REPORTS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER AND POWERLINES

In October (and also previously in September), the UK media carried reports that a study of childhood cancer and power lines in the UK had found an excess of cases close to lines.

The study concerned is an epidemiological study being conducted by the Childhood Cancer Research Group at the University of Oxford. Roughly 30,000 cases from 1963 to 1995 have been compared with matched controls and the distance to the nearest National Grid (275 kV and 400 kV) overhead power line calculated by National Grid Transco.

The study has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Until it is published, it is not appropriate to comment on the claimed results, and it is not possible to assess the methodology or what the various possible interpretations of any result might be.
Update: the study was published in June 2005. See separate news item above.
more on EMF research including this study

WHO PRECAUTIONARY FRAMEWORK

The WHO have posted on their web site the latest version of their Precautionary Framework, which has two case studies applying the Framework to power-frequency and radio-frequency EMFs.

The Framework says that decisions about what precautionary actions to take should be based on a cost-benefit analysis, but one that takes account of social and ethical factors. Applied to power-frequency EMFs, WHO say that

“Under the WHO Precautionary Framework, [childhood leukaemia] warrants a thorough consideration of precautionary measures including detailed cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analyses”

and

“…even after fully allowing for the legitimate desire by society to err on the safe side, it seems likely that only very low-cost measures will be justified.”

The Government’s formal response to the NRPB’s recommendation in March 2004 that the UK adopt the ICNIRP exposure guidelines has now been published on the Department of Health’s web site.

The Government state:

“.. the Government expects the NRPB guidelines to be implemented in line with the terms of the EU Recommendation, that is, taking account of the risks and benefits of action. Preliminary discussions have already taken place to identify what reasonable actions might be taken.”

On precautionary measures, they state:

“The Government will be exploring further the practical applications of precautionary measures within a stakeholder engagement process. This will be the subject of wide consultation and will explore any risks and benefits arising in the same manner as a Regulatory Impact Assessment.”

more on exposure limits

On March 31 2004 the NRPB published new advice on levels of exposure. They recommend that the international levels set by ICNIRP be adopted in the UK. These are the same as the present NRPB levels for occupational exposure, but lower for the public, by a factor of 5 at power frequencies, based on a more cautious interpretation of the science.

This is advice to Government, and Government will now have to decide if and how to implement it.

The ICNIRP guidelines, like the NRPB guidelines, set restrictions on exposure to prevent adverse health effects for which there is clear evidence and whose mechanisms are understood. The NRPB note that uncertainties in the science remain, particularly those associated with epidemiological studies. Although these studies do not provide a sound basis for quantifying exposure guidelines, the NRPB consider they indicate that further precaution may be appropriate in respect of some EMF exposures.

For more detail, see:
The NRPB advice on exposure levels
The accompanying review of the science by NRPB
The NRPB's response to the comments they received during their consultation exercise
More detail on exposure limits in this and other countries.

NRPB REPORT ON PARTICLE DEPOSITION IN THE VICINITY OF POWER LINES (March 2004)

In March 2004 the NRPB’s Advisory Group (AGNIR) published a report into the suggested mechanisms whereby power lines might have an effect on airborne particles. It concluded:

“…it seems unlikely that corona ions would have more than a small effect on the long-term health risks associated with particulate air pollutants, even in the individuals who are most affected. In public health terms, the proportionate impact will be even lower because only a small fraction of the general population live or work close to sources of corona ions.”

and

“Any health risks from the deposition of environmental particulate air pollutants on the skin appear to be negligible.”

See also:
The complete report on the NRPB web site
Key extracts from the summary and conclusions
A response to the report from Bristol University
More information on the background to these the theories and other statements about them

DEMONSTRATIONS OF FLUORESCENT TUBES UNDER POWER LINES

The Artist in Residence at Bristol University Physics Department, Richard Box, has beautifully demonstrated how fluorescent tubes can glow under a power line. This is an effect of the electric field produced by the power lines, but the current required to produce a visible glow from a fluorescent tube is very low, and besides demonstrating rather elegantly the presence of the field, this phenomenon has no known implications for human health.

More on why fluorescent tubes light under power lines

DEVELOPMENTS ON THE EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE ON EMFS

The European Union are developing a Directive on occupational exposure to EMFs. For more details see exposure limits.

In December 2003 the Commission and Council reached a Common Position which they passed to the Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee. That Committee will debate it and then pass it to the full Parliament. The Committee appointed Senor Alvarez as Rapporteur. He has produced a report including some proposed amendments. Other MEPs have also tabled amendments.

On March 18 2004 the Committee adopted five of the amendments and rejected the rest. On March 30 the full Parliament accepted the same five amendments.

The Common Position is very close to the ICNIRP exposure guidelines. The main effect of the proposed amendment would be to extend to requirements for health surveillance.