- The final report of a contested eight-year, $7 million
study soon to be released by the California Department of Health Services
may be the most credible statement yet on the connection between electric
power lines and a variety of health problems.
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- "To one degree or another, all three of the DHS
scientists are inclined to believe that EMFs (electric and magnetic fields)
can cause some degree of increased risk of childhood leukemia, adult brain
cancer, Lou Gehrig's disease, and miscarriage," states a leaked copy
of the final report from the California EMF Program, a study begun in 1993
on behalf of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
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- "The DHS scientists are more inclined to believe
that EMF exposure increased the risk of the above health problems than
the majority of the members of scientific committees convened to evaluate
the scientific literature" by several national and international organizations,
the report adds.
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- But the authors, a trio of professional epidemiologists
with backgrounds in physics, medicine and genetics, also wrote that they
were not convinced of a connection between EMFs and many other health problems,
ranging from cancer to suicide.
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- The report has been a bone of contention for years. A
lawsuit last year charged the department with suppressing the report. The
DHS subsequently published a draft version on its website containing much
of the data presented in the final report.
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- The final version contains not only the more strongly
worded executive summary, but a chart of the authors' personal degrees
of certainty on each issue, removing the guesswork of who thinks what.
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- While acknowledging the possibility there may be no connection
between EMFs and any of the various illnesses, all three estimated the
probability of a cause-and-effect relationship at above 50 percent for
the four medical problems listed above.
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- None of the authors could be reached for comment (two
have since left the program), but Department of Health spokesman Ken August
said the report was "going through the normal review process"
and would be publicly released in coming months.
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- Louis Slesin, editor of the Microwave News newsletter
on radiation effects, said the report's conclusions will carry more weight
than previous claims about EMF effects.
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- "This is a health department," Slesin said.
"Most of the other people working in this area are more tied into
the electric utility industry. When the health people get involved, their
objectives are health, not to worry about economic impact.
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- "No one can say this thing is settled. But what
they're saying is that after all this time, they think there's something
there."
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- The 500-plus page report sticks to epidemiology and makes
no recommendations for reducing the health risks from power lines. But
another recent report for the PUC detailed the high costs of potential
fixes, estimating that a $5 billion investment to reduce EMFs from distribution
lines running to homes and businesses would save a thousand lives over
the 35-year lifetime of the equipment.
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- And while most sources said it was important to put the
information in front of the public to allow informed decision-making, all
agreed that probabilistic ranges of certainty could be a tough message
to convey to an audience that wants yes or no answers.
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- "People would prefer to see (whether you are) convinced
or not," August said. "We're still trying to convince people
that eating fruits and vegetables is good for you."
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- http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,54637,00.html
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