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There have been numerous studies completed which can provide some insight into EMFs. Below are summaries from two of the most recently publicized studies on the possible health affects of EMFs.
- NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) - 1999 NIEHS Report on Health Effects from Exposure to Power-Line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields
- National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Report: Possible Health Effects Of Exposure To Residential Electric And Magnetic Fields
NIEHS
In 1992, the U.S. Congress authorized the Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination Program (EMF-RAPID Program) in the Energy Policy Act. The Congress instructed the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to direct and manage a program of research and analysis aimed at providing scientific evidence to clarify the potential for health risks from exposure to extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields (ELF-EMF). This study issued the following results:
...The NIEHS believes that the probability that ELF-EMF exposure is truly a health hazard is currently small. The weak epidemiological associations and lack of any laboratory support for these associations provide only marginal, scientific support that exposure to this agent is causing any degree of harm...
...Using criteria developed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, none of the Working Group considered the evidence strong enough to label ELF-EMF exposure as a "known human carcinogen" or "probable human carcinogen." However, a majority of the members of this Working Group (19/28 voting members) concluded that exposure to power-line frequency ELF-EMF is a "possible" human carcinogen. This decision was based largely on "limited evidence of an increased risk for childhood leukemias with residential exposure and an increased occurrence of CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) associated with occupational exposure." For other cancers and for non-cancer health endpoints, the Working Group categorized the experimental data as providing much weaker evidence or no support for effects from exposure to ELF-EMF...
The complete report can be referenced at the following web site: NAS/NRC.
NAS/NRC
In response to the legislation in the Energy Policy Act, the U.S. Department of Energy entered into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences ""to review and evaluate the existing scientific information on the possible effects of exposure to electric and magnetic fields on the incidence of cancer, on reproduction and developmental abnormalities, and on neurobiologic response as reflected in learning and behavior." The findings were as follows:
Based on a comprehensive evaluation of published studies relating to the effects of power frequency electric and magnetic fields on cells, tissues, and organisms (including humans), the conclusion of the committee is that the current body of evidence does not show that exposure to these fields presents a human health hazard. Specifically, no conclusive and consistent evidence shows that exposures to residential electric and magnetic fields produce cancer, adverse neurobehavioral effects, or reproductive and developmental effects.
The committee reviewed residential exposure levels to electric and magnetic fields, evaluated the available epidemiologic studies, and examined laboratory investigations that used cells, isolated tissues, and animals. At exposure levels well above those normally encountered in residences, electric and magnetic fields can produce biologic effects (promotion of bone healing is an example), but these effects do not provide a consistent picture of a relationship between the biologic effects of these fields and health hazards. An association between residential wiring configurations (called wire codes, defined below) and childhood leukemia persists in multiple studies, although the causative factor responsible for that statistical association has not been identified. No evidence links contemporary measurements of magnetic field levels to childhood leukemia.
In addition, in May 1999, the National Research Council/ National Academy of Sciences released its evaluation of the scientific and technical content of research projects conducted under the U.S. EMF RAPID Program. It concluded that:
The results of the EMF-RAPID program do not support the contention that the use of electricity poses a major unrecognized public-health danger. Basic research on the effects of power-frequency magnetic fields on cells and animals should continue but a special research funding effort is not required. Investigators should compete for funding through traditional research-funding mechanisms. If future research on this subject is funded through such mechanisms, it should be limited to tests of well-defined mechanistic hypotheses or replications of reported positive effects. If carefully performed, such experiments will have value even if their results are negative. Special efforts should be made to communicate the conclusions of this effort to the general public....
The complete study
can be referenced on their web site.