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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 / Scientific review bodies / PHE (formerly HPA, formerly NRPB) / PHE – history

PHE – history

Responsibility for radiological protection (including non-ionising radiation i.e. EMFs) currently lies with Public Health England.  Before that it lay with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), and before that with the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB).  We explain here for anyone who is really interested the successive legal bases for this.  Mostly, it is sufficient just to read the statements on EMFs by each body in turn.

Public Health England (PHE)

PHE came into being on 1 April 2013 as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Act did not specifically create PHE but gave the responsibility for certain health matters in England to the Secretary of State, who created PHE to discharge them.  Radiation is implicitly covered by section 11:

11 The Secretary of State’s duty as to protection of public health

After section 2 of the National Health Service Act 2006 insert—

 “Provision for protection or improvement of public health
2A Secretary of State’s duty as to protection of public health

(1) The Secretary of State must take such steps as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purpose of protecting the public in England from disease or other dangers to health. 
(2) The steps that may be taken under subsection (1) include— 
(a) the conduct of research or such other steps as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for advancing knowledge and understanding; 
(b) providing microbiological or other technical services (whether in laboratories or otherwise); 
(c) providing vaccination, immunisation or screening services;
(d) providing other services or facilities for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness; 
(e) providing training; 
(f) providing information and advice; 
(g) making available the services of any person or any facilities."

This applies to England only.  Section 58 requires the "Appropriate Authority" in each of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to take similar steps in relation to radiation:

58 Radiation protection functions

(1) The appropriate authority must take such steps as it considers appropriate for the purposes of protecting the public from radiation (whether ionising or not). 
(2) The steps that may be taken under subsection (1) include— 
(a)the conduct of research or such other steps as the appropriate authority considers appropriate for advancing knowledge and understanding; 
(b) providing technical services (whether in laboratories or otherwise); 
(c) providing services for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness arising from exposure to radiation; 
(d) providing training; 
(e) providing information and advice; 
(f) making available the services of any person or any facilities.

In practice, PHE still seems to be exercising radiological protection functions across the whole of the UK despite the name.

PHE is an executive agency of the Department of Health.

Section 56 repeals the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and abolishes the HPA.

Health Protection Agency (HPA)

HPA was established by the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and came into being on 1 April 2005.

Section 3 of the Act gave HPA the following key responsibilities for radiation (the rest of section 3 deals with how they could be given extra responsibilities and who they had to liaise with):

3 Radiation protection functions

(1) The Agency has the following functions in relation to risks connected with radiation (whether ionising or not)— 
(a) the advancement of the acquisition of knowledge about protection from such risks; 
(b) the provision of information and advice in relation to the protection of the community (or any part of the community) from such risks.

Those responsibilities applied across the whole UK, though section 2 specifies how the Devolved Administrations could give them specific functions. The legal status was a "non-departmental public body".

The former NRPB became part of HPA, sometimes known as the Radiation Protection Division (RPD) but more normally as part of the Centre for Chemical, Radiation and Environmental Hazards (CRCE).

Schedule 4 of the Health Protection Act repealed the Radiological Protection Act 1970, thereby abolishing the NRPB.

National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB)

The NRPB was created by the Radiological Protection Act 1970.  Section 1 gives the key responsibilities:

1.-(1) There shall be a public authority, to be called the National Radiological Protection Board (in this Act referred to as " the Board "), whose function it shall be- 
(a) by means of research and otherwise, to advance the acquisition of knowledge about the protection of mankind from radiation hazards ; and
(b) to provide information and advice to persons (including government departments) with responsibilities in the United Kingdom in relation to the protection from radiation hazards either of the community as a whole or of particular sections of the community.

The NRPB's functions were extended to include non-ionising radiation in 1974.  The NRPB functioned UK-wide. Its legal status was a "public authority".

The Devolved Administrations

The NRPB and HPA both had a UK-wide responsibility for radiation including EMFs.  With PHE, the situation is less clear. There are bodies with public-health responsibility in each of the devolved administrations, but these bodies do not seem to have specific radiation responsibilities, and certainly in practice, the radiation specialisation remains in PHE.

 EnglandWalesScotlandNorthern Ireland
Name of bodyPublic Health EnglandPublic Health Wales

Health Protection Scotland

(also a separate body NHS Health Scotland which deals with health improvement but not radiation protection)

Public Health Agency
Year established1 April 20131 October 20092005April 2009
Legal statusExecutive Agency of Department of HealthNHS TrustA division of NHS National Services ScotlandNot clear
Enabling legislation

Health and Social Care Act 2012

(does not specifically establish PHE but creates duty on Secretary of State which is discharged through PHE)

The Public Health Wales National Health Service Trust (Establishment) Order 2009  
Specific mention of radiation in establishment or purpose?YesNoNot knownNot known
Encompasses radiation in practice?YesYes, treated as a collective responsibility with HPA. HPA provided authoritative expertise and advice, PHW provided locally based resource. We assume the agreement has transferred to PHE.Yes.  Mainly seems to refer to UK-wide advice from HPA but also issues its own guidance.Yes, in practice mainly disseminating HPA advice in Northern Ireland.
Status of Codes of Practice

Apply

Agreed by DECC and DH

Apply

Agreed by Welsh Assembly

Apply

Agreed by Scottish Executive

Apply

Agreed by Northern Ireland Executive (Codes of Practice re-issued in 2012 to reflect this)

see also Strategic Planning Policy Statement 2015

Status of Occupational exposure limits

Implemented by Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations (2016)

S.I. 2016 No. 588

Introduced by Health and Safety Executive

Took effect 1 July 2016

 

Implemented by the Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

S.R. 2016 No. 266.

Introduced by the Department for the Economy

Took effect 1 August 2016

 

 
 
 

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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