Elevated childhood leukemia is not not the only danger from power lines' magnetic fields. A new peer-reviewed Swiss study shows elevation of Alzheimers and Senile Dementia among people living hear electric transmission lines similar to the ones that FPL is proposing in areas around South Miami, Palmetto Bay and also Doral. FPL has already placed these high tension line down 135 St., in a residential neighborhood in North Miami. The study looked at people living within about 160 feet of these lines. Also, the longer a person lives near the lines the worse it is. The study authors say: "Conclusions: The results of our study support the hypothesis that magnetic field exposure plays a role in the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and senile dementia." The study did not address buried lines as there is only .8% on the grid in Switzerland. Study: (Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) 
Excerpt from study:Research on the long-term effects of extremely low fre-
quency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) has focused on cancer since
Wertheimer and Leeper (1) published their results on child-
hood cancer and wiring configurations in 1979. In 2001, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer classified expo-
sure to residential magnetic fields above 0.4 lT as a ‘‘possible’’
cause of childhood leukemia (2). For noncancer endpoints, an
initial report by Sobel et al. (3) on occupational ELF-MF
exposure and Alzheimer’s disease suggested that the risk
could be substantial. Studies published subsequently have
produced inconsistent results, but a recent meta-analysis (4)
reported elevated risks in cohort, as well as case-control, stud-
ies. A recent review of the evidence for an association between
ELF-MF and Alzheimer’s disease by the World Health Orga-
nization (5) concluded that the available data were inadequate,
and the topic was identified as a key research priority.
To our knowledge, no study has so far examined whether
residential exposure from power lines is associated with an
elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Even a small
association could be of high public health relevance, since
a considerable number of persons are exposed to these
fields. For example, 9.2% of the Swiss population live
within 600 m of a 220 or 380 kV power line. We used the
Swiss National Cohort, a longitudinal study of the Swiss
population (6), to investigate whether living in the vicinity
of power lines was associated with mortality from neuro-
degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, senile
dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple
sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease.
13 comments:
This is scary stuff. I wonder if underground cables are safe?
So conclusion is that FPL's residential North Miami are already making people sick - and now they are targeting South Miami residents. Disgusting FPL!!
While underground cables are out of sight and less prone to hurricane damage, they are not inherently more safe with respect to magnetic field emissions because our local limestone rock does little to attenuate magnetic fields. Distance is your best friend when it comes to power lines. Elevated incidence of childhood leukemia extends out even farther than Alzheimer's. Best solution? Rooftop solar, which has low voltages and does not require transmission lines.
The only reason FPL needs to run new power lines is to route power northward from their proposed Turkey Point nuclear reactors 6 & 7. No new reactors = no new power lines.
The energy produced will be "shipped" to Ft Myers and up North, for profit, and FPL proposes South Floridians are the only ones who will bear risks and costs of the reactors and lines we do not need. Underground lines are safer only *if* special engineering solutions are implemented on top of putting them under (similar to CA, NY, Detroit). But why again are we to pay for the energy not-for-us and have the nuclear waste stored on-site? The population projections FPL used to justify the reactors are false after the boom.
Anna is right.
Low frequency magnetic fields can be blocked with mu metal. I use mu metal sheeting in my lab to block magnetic fields from building transformers that mess up my measurements of bioelectric fields. It's horribly expensive stuff, but so are leukemia and Alzheimer's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu-metal
Come join concerned citizens on October 6th at the Commissioner's meeting for the City of South Miame at 7 pm located at 6130 Sunset Dr., south Miami, FL
We intend to stop FPL from constructing two more nuclear power plants and associated high-voltage power lines.
Thomas Saporito
Executive Director
RenewableElectricSystems.com
If these powerlines are a threat to everybodies health, maybe the power should be produced where it is needed. (Preferrable on everybodies roof top). When you send power through lines you loose energy. Aren't we suposed to conserve energy.
I hope residents in South Florida get out tomorrow and attend the meeting at South Miami City Hall @7pm to stop FPL from contructing 2 more power plants at Turkey Point. Let's stand together. Let them hear our voices and protect our and our children's health. We can only stop this irresponsible and profit driven behaviour if we ALL show up. The Mayor of South Miami, Horace Feliu, used his position to support FPL in this corupt process. Once again they try to push something through that the little guy has to pay for - with his hard earned money and his health!!
For comparison purposes, the 200 mg (milligauss) allowed by Florida DEP at the edge of the 230 kV transmission line right-of-way equals 20 uT (microTesla). The Swiss paper discusses 1 uT as an occupational hazard and lower values as a residential hazard.
It seems the DEP rule was modified in 2008, see http://www.dep.state.fl.us/siting/files/rules_statutes/62_814_emf_2008.pdf
They have concluded that there is no conclusive evidence of harm from EMFs, but maintain limits on exposure from siting.
Meanwhile, there is a proposed rule, noticed in the FAW on 9/25/09, open for comment, see
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/siting/files/rules_statutes/faw_proposed_rule.pdf. The proposed rule shows the changes clearly as strikeouts, very interesting strikeouts too.
Not being a lawyer, I cannot interpret any of this for anyone; however, from my scientific perch I would quickly comment that EMF regulations should ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION. Here may be a classic case of "what we dont know may hurt us".
(A little historical note that may be useful in these hearings - our Hendry County BOCC, yep, way out here, was not pleased with FPL for proposing transmission lines along CR 835. The road would have been INSIDE the ROW, that is, EMF monitoring would have been on the other side of the road from the lines. CR 835 is a school bus route, and, depending on conditions, kids would have been in "the field" for 40-60 minutes per day. They did not approve FPL's proposed resolution in support of the coal plant and associated transmission lines, in large part due to this issue.)
Though FPL does not published the proposed normal and peak loads for their line, it is easy to estimate that the magnetic field of around 3 to 5 mG
(units: 1 T (tesla) = 10000(gauss) = 1 W/m^2)
will result and perhaps more during the peak loads.
In several states these levels are considered unacceptable due to possibility of carcinogenic effects and other population health hazards.
These numbers are IN ADDITION to the existing natural and lower power lines fields - there will be cumulative effects.
Here, I'll quote some numbers:
Animal Sensitivies to Magnetic Fields
Honeybees 0.25 mG
Pigeons 0.1 mG
Sharks and Whales 0.5 mG
Lowest level to cause reaction in Electromagnetically Sensitive Patients 0.1 - 0.2 mG
Swedish Safety standard 1.0 mG (proposed US EPA standard)
California Safety Limit for Public Schools 1.2 mG
Indoor EMF levels (when good wiring practices followed) 0.1 – 1.2 mG
Leukemia studies which link low level EMF fields 2 - 4 mG
A study (Ahlbom & Feychting, 1993) reported that at 2 mG and above, exposed children were 2.7 times as likely to develop cancer as unexposed children, and at 3 mG and above, the odds rose to 3.8 times as likely!
The line field exposure will add up with the existing background, already emf-polluted.
Residential and business areas on US1, the Metrorail riders and the US1 drivers will be continuously subjected to the FPL-proposed transmission lines' fields.
I heard Erin Brockovitz signed the petition against the powerlines, is it true?
FPL can stick their heads in the ground as long as they want, JUST LIKE THE TOBACCO COMPANIES DID, the proof will show, and then it will be them who pay, JUST LIKE THE TOBACCO COMPANIES DID!
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