I don’t believe it, but we’re buying a house near the big TV and radio towers and NoCoolSpouseName suddenly is being accosted on all sides by people spouting folk wisdom about horrible things that will happen to us because of the “radiation” that we’ll be subjected to.
Thanks!
Nope, nor is there any plausible mechanism for it happening.
The closest they’ve come are minor increases in diseases like leukemia in those areas, but that seems to be because they tend to be less-desirable area to live in, so higher numbers of transient residents, so a greater influx of novel infectious agents in the local environment, which are known triggers for leukemia.
If power lines caused problems so would any electrical fields such as those emitted by your microwave, hairdryer, house power circuits, etc etc. All those are much less powerful than power lines, of course, but the fact they are so much closer to you more than makes up for it. Any effect of power lines would be totally swamped by the myriad closer sources in any Western home.
Logically, nothing should happen.
The EM wavelengths are much to large to disrupt the chemical bonds of DNA, which could lead to cancer.
However, EM hotspots like transformers and radio transmitters…including cellphones and police radar guns…are also often cancer hotspots, for reasons not yet explained.
No one has yet proven a link between microwave radiation and cancer, explained or not.
This is a difficult field to follow, even for someone who understands it all relatively well. There are two sides, those that believe EM radiation causes all sorts of bad things and those who don’t. Both sides are completely convinced they are right and the others are wrong, and both are very vocal about their opinions. To add to the confusion, every year numerous studies are published which show a link between microwaves or other frequency EM radiation and cancer or something else bad. The problem is that the followup studies either don’t support the original findings or some other study comes along with the exact opposite results. To date, I’m not aware of any study that has been done and has been supported by numerous follow up studies which proves a link between EM radiation and cancer.
The current understanding of EM radiation is that you don’t get cancer and such until you get up into the ultraviolet region of frequencies. At these frequencies and above (X rays, gamma rays, etc) the EM radiation can strip electrons off of the atoms (hence they are called ionizing radiation, since they produce ions). This is known to cause cell damage and cancer.
A statistical correlation has been made between high voltage lines and shorter life spans. This too is controversial, and the big study in the 70’s that found a link between power lines and lukemia (often blamed for really igniting this whole thing into the frenzy that it is today) has since been discredited. However, there is a statistical correlation that is still there. As AndrewT pointed out, it’s probably due mostly to the fact that these areas are less desirable for other reasons as well. No similar statistical correlation between cell phones, police radars, or other RF emitters and a shorter lifespan has been made, as far as I am aware.
I read that with power lines, the explanation is that the strong electric field tends to ionise pollutant particles that are already in the air, thus making them “sticky” and more likely to attach themselves to your lungs and cause problems.
Cite.
Makes sense I suppose. It’s not the EM field per se; rather it is a side effect of very powerful fields such as those around high-voltage power lines. A radio transmitter is not likely to do the same thing, I would have thought.
Although not in direct response to that article, the scientist who it refers to has objected to the media misrepresenting and distorting his work.
Just curious. I’ve noticed that companies endeavor to keep plant growth to a minimum beneath their towers (cell, microwave, power). Has anyone investigated whether living near an area that’s frequently doused with insecticides/herbicides could be a cause for the above-mentioned correlations?