EMFs.info

Electric and magnetic fields and health

index/glossary | EMFs At A Glance | EMF The Facts (pdf)
  • What are EMFs
    • Terminology – an introduction
    • Electric fields
    • Magnetic fields
    • Units for measuring EMFs
    • Measuring and calculating EMFs
      • “EMF Commercial”
    • Adding fields together
    • Radiofrequencies
    • Screening EMFs
  • Sources
    • Overhead power lines
      • Fields from specific power lines
        • 400 kV
        • 400 kV – specific cases
        • 275 kV
        • 132 kV
        • 66 kV
        • 33 kV
        • 11 kV
        • 400 V/230 V
        • Replacing a 132 kV line with a 400 kV line
      • Summaries of fields from all power lines
      • Factors affecting the field from a power line
        • Voltage
        • Current
        • Clearance
        • Height above ground
        • Conductor bundle
        • Phasing
        • Balance between circuits
        • Balance within circuit
        • Ground resistivity
        • Two parallel lines
      • Calculating and measuring fields from power lines
        • Geometries of power lines
        • Raw data
        • On-line calculator
      • Fields from power lines – more detail on the physics
        • Field lines from a power line
        • The direction of the field from a power line
        • Power law variations in the field from a power line
      • Statistics of power line fields
    • Underground power cables
      • Different types of underground cable
      • Fields from cables in tunnels
      • Gas Insulated Lines (GIL)
      • Underground cables with multiple conductors
      • Effect of height on fields from underground cables
      • Screening fields from underground cables
    • Low-voltage distribution
      • UK distribution wiring
      • USA distribution wiring
    • House wiring
    • Substations
      • National Grid substations
        • Static Var Compensators
      • Sealing-end compounds
      • Distribution substations
      • Final distribution substations
        • Indoor substations
    • Transport
      • EMFs from electric trains (UK)
      • EMFs from cars
    • Appliances
    • Electricity meters
      • Smart meters
      • Traditional meters
    • Occupational exposures
      • Live-line work
      • Static Var Compensators
      • Occupational exposures on pylons
    • Field levels and exposures
      • Personal exposure
      • Other factors that vary with magnetic fields
      • Fields greater than 0.2 or 0.4 µT
    • Screening EMFs
      • Screening fields from underground cables
      • EMF Reduction Devices
  • Known effects
    • Induced currents and fields
    • Microshocks
      • Control of microshocks in the UK
      • Microshocks from bicycles
      • Bees and microshocks
    • EMFs and medical devices
      • Standards relating to pacemakers and other AIMDs
    • Effects of EMFs on equipment
  • Research
    • Types of research
    • Epidemiology
    • Animal and laboratory experiments
    • Mechanisms
    • Specific studies
      • UKCCS
      • CCRG
      • French Geocap study
      • CEGB cohort
      • Imperial College study
  • Current evidence on health
    • Childhood leukaemia
      • Survival from childhood leukaemia
      • Childhood leukaemia and Downs
      • Childhood leukaemia and night-time exposure
      • The “contact current” hypothesis
    • Other health effects
    • Scientific review bodies
      • WHO
      • IARC
    • Electric fields and ions
    • Comparing EMFs to other issues
  • Exposure limits for people
    • Limits in the UK
    • Limits in the EU
    • Limits in the USA
    • Limits in the rest of the world
    • Limits from specific organisations
      • ICNIRP 1998
      • ICNIRP 2010
      • NRPB 1993
      • NRPB 2004
      • EU 2004
      • EU 2013
  • Policy
    • UK policy
      • Power lines and property – UK
    • Compliance with exposure limits
    • European EMF policy
    • Precaution
    • SAGE
      • SAGE First Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE First Interim Assessment
      • SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • SAGE Second Interim Assessment – the full list of recommendations
  • Finding out more
    • EMF measurement and commercial services
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Contact us
  • Static fields
    • Static fields – the expert view
You are here: Home / Current evidence on health / Comparing EMFs to other issues / EMFs compared to other issues: cholera

EMFs compared to other issues: cholera

Epidemiologists just love talking about how John Snow identified contaminated water as the way cholera is transmitted.

His most famous investigation was into an outbreak of cholera in 1854 in Soho.  He found that the cases were all associated with one single water pump, in Broad Street.  What further strengthened the conclusion is that it turned out some cases of cholera further away were nonetheless drinking water from the pump, and some residents close to the pump who didn't get cholera didn't drink from the pump (some of them worked in a brewery and were given free beer!) He persuaded the council to remove the pump handle.

In a previous outbreak of cholera, he had tracked down all the cases and identified whether they got their water from the company which drew its water from the Thames upstream of London or the rival company which drew its water from downstream.  Not surprisingly to us now, the latter was the one producing cases of cholera.

At the time, people believed that cholera was spread through bad air - "miasma".  It wasn't until 30 years later in 1885 that the cholera bacterium was discovered.  So this episode is sometimes cited as evidence that you can draw conclusions about causation even if you don't know a mechanism.  The implication is that we shouldn't be unduly deterred from drawing conclusions about whether magnetic fields cause cancer just because we don't know the mechanism.

There is a valid point here: yes, if the epidemiology is strong enough, you don't need a mechanism to infer causation.  But there are limits to the comparison as well.  First, John Snow's epidemiological evidence about cholera was very powerful indeed - epidemiologists today would give their eye teeth to find an association as clear as those he did. And second, with magnetic fields, it's not just that we haven't found a mechanism, there are arguments that a mechanism may actually be impossible because of how weak the fields are.

The wise conclusion is that the absence of a mechanism for magnetic fields does not of itself rule out effects.  But it is part of the overall weight of evidence.

More on the issue of magnetic fields and mechanisms

Other issues compared to EMFs:

  • smoking
  • passive smoking
  • shift work
  • coffee
  • cholera
  • BSE

Latest news

  • New publication on cancer incidence from the UK electricity industry Cohort Study August 27, 2019
  • How has the reported risk for childhood leukaemia changed over time? February 11, 2019
  • Media stories about microshocks in children’s playground September 10, 2018
  • New studies on leukaemia and distance from power lines June 1, 2018
older news

Contact Us

To contact the electricity industry’s EMF Unit Public Information Line (UK only):
telephone 0845 7023270 or email [email protected].

See Contact us for more contact details including our privacy policy.

About this site

  • What this site covers and what it doesn’t
  • Industry policy
  • Sitemap

Specific questions

  • Affected by a new power line or substation?
  • Building or developing near a power line or substation?
  • EMF measurement and commercial services
  • Microshocks
  • Pacemakers and other medical devices
  • EMF policy in the UK
Site Authorship |Sitemap | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cookies | Site Statistics
© 2021 EMFS.info
Navigation
  • What are EMFs
    • Terminology – an introduction
    • Electric fields
    • Magnetic fields
    • Units for measuring EMFs
    • Measuring and calculating EMFs
      • “EMF Commercial”
    • Adding fields together
    • Radiofrequencies
    • Screening EMFs
  • Sources
    • Overhead power lines
      • Fields from specific power lines
        • 400 kV
        • 400 kV – specific cases
        • 275 kV
        • 132 kV
        • 66 kV
        • 33 kV
        • 11 kV
        • 400 V/230 V
        • Replacing a 132 kV line with a 400 kV line
      • Summaries of fields from all power lines
      • Factors affecting the field from a power line
        • Voltage
        • Current
        • Clearance
        • Height above ground
        • Conductor bundle
        • Phasing
        • Balance between circuits
        • Balance within circuit
        • Ground resistivity
        • Two parallel lines
      • Calculating and measuring fields from power lines
        • Geometries of power lines
        • Raw data
        • On-line calculator
      • Fields from power lines – more detail on the physics
        • Field lines from a power line
        • The direction of the field from a power line
        • Power law variations in the field from a power line
      • Statistics of power line fields
    • Underground power cables
      • Different types of underground cable
      • Fields from cables in tunnels
      • Gas Insulated Lines (GIL)
      • Underground cables with multiple conductors
      • Effect of height on fields from underground cables
      • Screening fields from underground cables
    • Low-voltage distribution
      • UK distribution wiring
      • USA distribution wiring
    • House wiring
    • Substations
      • National Grid substations
        • Static Var Compensators
      • Sealing-end compounds
      • Distribution substations
      • Final distribution substations
        • Indoor substations
    • Transport
      • EMFs from electric trains (UK)
      • EMFs from cars
    • Appliances
    • Electricity meters
      • Smart meters
      • Traditional meters
    • Occupational exposures
      • Live-line work
      • Static Var Compensators
      • Occupational exposures on pylons
    • Field levels and exposures
      • Personal exposure
      • Other factors that vary with magnetic fields
      • Fields greater than 0.2 or 0.4 µT
    • Screening EMFs
      • Screening fields from underground cables
      • EMF Reduction Devices
  • Known effects
    • Induced currents and fields
    • Microshocks
      • Control of microshocks in the UK
      • Microshocks from bicycles
      • Bees and microshocks
    • EMFs and medical devices
      • Standards relating to pacemakers and other AIMDs
    • Effects of EMFs on equipment
  • Research
    • Types of research
    • Epidemiology
    • Animal and laboratory experiments
    • Mechanisms
    • Specific studies
      • UKCCS
      • CCRG
      • French Geocap study
      • CEGB cohort
      • Imperial College study
  • Current evidence on health
    • Childhood leukaemia
      • Survival from childhood leukaemia
      • Childhood leukaemia and Downs
      • Childhood leukaemia and night-time exposure
      • The “contact current” hypothesis
    • Other health effects
    • Scientific review bodies
      • WHO
      • IARC
    • Electric fields and ions
    • Comparing EMFs to other issues
  • Exposure limits for people
    • Limits in the UK
    • Limits in the EU
    • Limits in the USA
    • Limits in the rest of the world
    • Limits from specific organisations
      • ICNIRP 1998
      • ICNIRP 2010
      • NRPB 1993
      • NRPB 2004
      • EU 2004
      • EU 2013
  • Policy
    • UK policy
      • Power lines and property – UK
    • Compliance with exposure limits
    • European EMF policy
    • Precaution
    • SAGE
      • SAGE First Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE First Interim Assessment
      • SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • Government response to SAGE Second Interim Assessment
        • SAGE Second Interim Assessment – the full list of recommendations
  • Finding out more
    • EMF measurement and commercial services
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Contact us
  • Static fields
    • Static fields – the expert view