People who are living next to power lines may be wondering "what's the risk of living near power lines?" or "is it safe to live near power lines?" There are also speculations that overhead power lines are linked to cancer.
Is it bad to live near power lines? Power line radiation? Is there a safe distance from power lines?
Short answer:
You should not be terribly worried about living under power lines. Several international agencies, including the World Health Organization, have made the conclusion that, there is no risk from most exposure to EMFs (magnetic fields produced by power lines). High exposure is mostly coming from the wiring configuration within the home, not outside the home.
Living next to power lines. Do power lines cause cancer? Living under power lines.
Learn more:
The EMFs produced by power lines are low-to mid-frequency magnetic fields. These EMFs are in the nn-ionizing radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum, and are not known to damage DNA or cells directly. However, some agencies speculate that they could cause cancer in other ways.
In 2002, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified extremely low frequency magnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans. There is no strong evidence in animal and human studies for this EMF-cancer link.
In the late '80s, there were a few studies on childhood leukaemia, a type of cancer which is common in children, that showed an association with very high exposure to EMFs. However, this was from a very high exposure, which is only present in about 1% or less of the population.
Although scientists are still studying how EMFs may influence cancer risk, experts argued people living under near power lines should not be concerned.
Reference:
Carlton, "Can living near power lines cause cancer?", Fox News, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/01/03/can-living-near-power-lines-cause-cancer.html. [Accessed: 08- Aug- 2017].
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