Are lower voltage power lines (say 115 kV) safer than high voltage (345kV and above) lines?
a. The risks associated with electric fields directly correspond to a lines voltage. Therefore, the risks associated with electric fields increase in tandem with the lines voltage. b. The better documented risks associated with a lines magnetic field are associated with the current going through a line rather than its voltage. To deliver a given amount of power, utilities must push more current thorough low voltage lines than high voltage lines. Therefore, in-field measurements show the magnetic field under a 115 kV line is often greater than the field immediately under a 345 kV line. Also, high voltage lines are customarily built on wider rights of way than low voltage lines. Therefore, people tend to live closer to low voltage lines than they do to high voltage lines. For these reasons, low voltage transmission power lines generally pose a greater risk to human health than do high voltage lines. Lines with 65 kV or less usually emit very low levels of magnetic fields.
