Background of EMF Health Issue

Q1-1 What is EMF health issue?

Here, we provide an explanation of the historical background related to health issues associated with the 50/60 Hz electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by sources like electric power facilities.
Researchers in the United States, Sweden, and other countries began investigating the health of people living near transmission lines in the 1970s. Reports emerged suggesting a link between the strength of electromagnetic fields and childhood leukemia. This raised concerns about the potential health impacts of electromagnetic fields generated by everyday electrical use.

1.Lawsuit against 765 kV ultra-high voltage transmission lines project in U.S., 1973

In 1973, residents initiated a lawsuit against a construction project involving 765 kV ultra-high voltage transmission lines in New York State, USA. The lawsuit was subsequently mediated by the state's Public Utility Commission and ultimately reached a settlement.

The conditions of the settlement were:

The limit value of electric field shall be 1.6 kV/m (kilovolt per meter) beneath the existing transmission lines;
Hereafter new construction of transmission lines shall not be permitted without the safety assurance;
Research shall be conducted on effects of electromagnetic field to ensure the safety. Following the settlement, the New York State Transmission Lines Project was launched, with a focus on researching the effects of electromagnetic fields. Under this project, extensive research was carried out from the late 1970s through the 1980s, culminating in the publication of the final report in 1987. The report's conclusion indicated that there were no scientific justifications to suggest that low-frequency electric fields present in residential and occupational environments caused any adverse biological or health effects. This lawsuit brought widespread recognition to the health issue of electric fields in general.

2.Epidemiological studies on childhood leukemia

2.1 Epidemiological Study by Wertheimer And Leeper In U.S. , 1979

In 1979, Nancy Wertheimer (University of Colorado, U.S.) and Ed Leeper published the results of their epidemiological study on the relationship between low-frequency magnetic fields and human health. They conducted a case-control study involving 344 fatal cases of childhood cancer, and their findings indicated that children living in proximity to transmission and distribution lines had a higher mortality rate from childhood cancer.

2.2 Epidemiological Study by Savitz in U.S. , 1987

In 1987, David Savitz and his colleagues (the University of North Carolina in the United States) reported that the incidence rate of childhood cancer, especially leukemia, in children under the age of 14 living in the vicinity of distribution lines was 1.5 to 2 times higher compared to children living farther away from these distribution lines.
As Savitz was famous epidemiologist in those days, their study concluding increased incidence rate gathered attention.

2.3 Epidemiological Study by Feychting and Ahlbom in Sweden, 1992

In 1992, Maria Feychting and Anders Ahlbom (Karolinska National Institute, Sweden) analyzed domestic data in Sweden from 1960 to 1985 and published the results that relative risk of developing childhood leukemia by children living within 300 m from transmission lines increased 2.7 times at exposure level of magnetic field (calculated value) more than 0.2µT (microtesla).

These epidemiological study reports caused media coverage on health effect issue of electromagnetic field and then electromagnetic field was recognized as a social issue by general public.

Consequently, governments and international organizations were compelled to address this issue due to such circumstances.

3. Research on Electromagnetic Fields at International Organizations and Beyond: Key Initiatives

In 1987, the World Health Organization (WHO) published "Environmental Health Criteria No. 69 (Magnetic Field)" and concluded that there were no established effects below an induced current density of 1 mA/cm² (equivalent to 500µT in magnetic field level).
In 1993, the U.S. government initiated the "Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination (EMF-RAPID) Program" with a budget of approximately 65 million dollars, from 1993 for a six-year period.
In 1996, WHO established "The International EMF Project".
In 1999, the final report of the EMF-RAPID Program was published, and it concluded that "the scientific evidence indicating that exposure to extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields is harmful is weak."
In 2001, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published "IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Vol. 80 (Non-ionizing Radiation, Part 1: Static and Extremely Low-Frequency (ELF) Electric and Magnetic Fields)." In this publication, “extremely low-frequency magnetic fields” were classified as "possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)" while “static electric fields, static magnetic fields, and extremely low-frequency electric fields” were classified as "not classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans (Group 3)".
In 2007, WHO published "Environmental Health Criteria No. 238 (Extremely Low Frequency Fields)” and concluded that "evidence suggested in epidemiological studies regarding relationship between childhood leukemia and extremely low frequency magnetic field is not strong enough to consider there is a causal relationship but strong enough to remain concerns. Scientific evidence supporting link between several other diseases and extremely low frequency is weaker than that of childhood leukemia”. And WHO published "Fact sheet No. 322" and concluded that the “evidence related to childhood leukemia is not strong enough to be considered causal”.