Why Is There Concern About Power Lines?
High-voltage power lines create electromagnetic fields around them and expose anything nearby to electromagnetic radiation. This is not unique to power lines microwave ovens, radio and televisions transmitters, and cellular phone transmitters do the same thing, though the amounts of radiation emitted vary. From any source, the amount of radiation falls dramatically as the distance from that source increases (there’s a complicated formula involving the square of the distance that describes this). As a result, even power lines that are easily visible from one’s home (or from one’s appliances or cell phone) lead to radiation exposure that experts consider harmless. That’s why there are not more rules and regulations about living near power lines. When laboratory animals have been exposed to radiation of this sort, some researchers (but not others) have been able to demonstrate health problems, including new cancers or accelerated growth of existing cancer. The question is whether any of t
Why Is There Concern About Power Lines?