- When the Smith family moved into a 200-year-old house
in the North Yorkshire countryside, they thought little of the electricity
pylon and lines towering above the home.
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- Thirty years later Jannette Smith believes that the power
lines above Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton, are responsible for a blight
on her family.
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- Her brother Matthew died of liver cancer in 1988 when
he was 18. Her mother died of cancer in 1996. Her father is also suffering
from it. Even the family's cat and dog, along with a neighbour's pet, were
diagnosed with the disease. There was no previous family history of it.
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- "When my brother died we assumed it was a natural
disease," said Jannette, 37. "Then we saw a report in a magazine
about the health risks of pylons. Now it would take an awful lot to convince
me that the illnesses weren't due to the power lines."
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- The family was not alone in its suffering. Last year
the secretary of the local branch of the National Farmers' Union began
to worry that cancer was becoming increasingly common in the area. He found
nine cases of the disease in 19 houses along a five-mile stretch of power
lines in the Northallerton area.
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- The report this week by the government's Advisory Group
on Non-ionising Radiation (Agnir) will be welcomed by other families across
Britain who have suffered illnesses which they believe have been caused
by electromagnetic fields from power lines.
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- For the first time the government body will accept that
children living near power lines are at a small but increased risk from
leukaemia.
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- The link between electromagnetic fields and cancer has
been bitterly contested as scientific studies offered contradictory conclusions.
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- In 1979 Nancy Wertheimer published findings based on
studies around Denver, Colorado, which showed high levels of leukaemia
in children living close to overhead power lines.
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- In 1990 a study by Stephen Perry, a retired Midlands
GP, linked electromagnetic fields to increased rates of suicide and depression.
A report by Agnir in 1992 maintained there was "no firm evidence of
the existence of carcinogenic hazard". Despite this, clusters of cancer
sufferers living near power lines began to be identified around the country.
In Abergavenny, Gwent, four neighbours developed brain tumours within 18
months. All lived near 132,000- volt cables which they suspected of being
the cause.
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- In the eight houses closest to overhead cables on the
Shortlees estate on the outskirts of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, nine people
have died of cancer in the past 15 years.
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- Denis Henshaw, professor of human radiation effects at
Bristol University, argued that power lines produce "corona ions",
molecules in the air with an electric charge. These attach themselves to
airborne pollutants such as car exhaust fumes and give them an electrical
charge. This means there is a greater chance of being absorbed by the body
when inhaled, he believes.
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- Sceptical scientists dismissed the clusters as not statistically
significant. But several families launched legal challenges to prove the
link and to claim damages from the electricity companies.
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- Among them were the Studholme family who bought a house
in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1989, where an electricity meter emitted
strong electromagnetic fields. Within 18 months their son Simon had developed
acute lymphatic leukaemia. He died in 1992 aged 13. The family and two
others were granted legal aid to sue, but suffered a setback when reports
from the American National Cancer Institute ruled out the link.
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- Now the families and others like them may have new grounds
to press for compensation. The consequences of a successful test case would
be enormous. The power lines which run over or near 25,000 homes would
have to be moved; they could be buried, which would significantly diminish
the electromagnetic fields.
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- "In our house, magnetic field levels are tenfold
the recommended safe limit," said Maureen Asbury, who has led a campaign
to force the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to hold an inquiry
into power lines in Trentham, Staffordshire. "We are not prepared
to sit back and let more people fall ill."
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- However, the DTI turned down the request last year.
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