|
UK Plans To Lower EMF Limits
BBC
Journalist: Alex Kirby
May 01, 2003
The exposure of people in the UK to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) should be cut
significantly, the government's radiation advisers say.
The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) says the UK should adopt
international exposure standards.
EMFs are given off by many industrial and domestic electric installations and
appliances, including mobile telephones and wiring circuits.
Some experts say deeper cuts are necessary to protect people's health. EMFs are
measured in units called microTeslas.
The NRPB has recommended for many years that nobody should be exposed to a level
higher than 1,600 microTeslas.
But in a consultation document on restricting people's exposure, it now
recommends the UK should adopt the guidelines of the International Committee on
Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (Icnirp).
The commission's recommended level is far lower, at 100 microTeslas.
Health impact
The NRPB paper reviews recent research on possible health effects.
It includes reviews of EMFs and possible health effects by Icnirp, the World
Health Organisation, and the UK's Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones.
The NRPB says: "All scientific investigations are subject to uncertainties,
including the interpretation of studies on the possible adverse health effects
of exposure to EMFs.
"The results from well designed and conducted studies have uncertainties that
can be quantified statistically, but may not always be explicable.
"Hence a cautious approach is used in making proposals for quantitative
restrictions on EMF exposures."
But some experts believe the traditionally cautious NRPB should have seized the
chance to be much bolder.
Denis Henshaw, professor of physics at the University of Bristol, told BBC News
Online: "The adoption by the NRPB of a precautionary approach to EMF exposures
is to be welcomed.
"In the case of new installations (power lines, sub-stations, etc.) this needs
to result in public exposures well below 0.4 microTeslas, the level at which a
doubling of the risk of childhood leukaemia has been seen.
"This should also protect against increased risk of adult brain cancer,
miscarriage and a number of other adverse health outcomes.
"In the case of existing installations the adoption of the Icnirp exposure limit
of 100 microTeslas still leaves people living near high-voltage power lines
potentially exposed to magnetic field levels of several or even tens of
microTeslas, well above the levels where adverse health effects have been
reported.
"Future consideration will need to be given to reducing exposures with respect
to existing installations."
Leukaemia Risk
Two years ago an NRPB investigation found "a weak association" between EMFs and
an increased risk of childhood leukaemia.
It said the extra danger was slight, but recommended further research.
The investigation included a study of 3,000 children which suggested electricity
pylons could double the childhood leukaemia risk.
But the NRPB said the evidence applied not just to power lines, but to the
effects of electrical power inside houses.
In 2000, a US study concluded people might be likelier to commit suicide if they
were regularly exposed to low-frequency electromagnetic fields.
The UK Electricity Association said it fully supported the NRPB approach.
Dr John Swanson, its scientific adviser, said: "The new proposals do not change
what the science says, but are more about looking at what could be the pros and
cons of changing the safety margins from those we use now.
"This does not mean that the old guidelines were fundamentally flawed¿ It is
simply asking the question, should we have even greater safety margins than we
already have."
| |
"In God We
Trust" Site Prayer "
llphone radiation
http://rfsafe.com/index.php
|
