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08 February 2012

Answer to Question #1586 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Microwaves, Radar, and Radiofrequency — Power Lines

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

I am considering buying a home that is approximately 1,000 feet from high-tension overhead power lines. I understand that there are no definitive associations between health hazards and power lines. However when these studies refer to close or exposure, what range are they referring to?

As you correctly note, "there are no definitive associations between health hazards and power lines," so distance from the power lines is not a factor with regard to health effects. Most of the studies that I have read looked at houses right next to the power lines where the measured or calculated magnetic fields were the largest. In one large study of magnetic field exposures in homes, the highest exposures were found in homes less than 25 feet away, and the lowest in homes over 150 feet away from the nearest overhead power line. (See Project No. 6 "Survey of Personal Magnetic Field Exposure" page 29-30 in "Research on Power Frequency Fields Completed Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992", National Academy Press, 2000.

Gary Zeman, ScD, CHP

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