Electromagnetic Fields and Health

News about the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on health has spread for years through media, from the effect of mobile phone on human health to the issues related to living under power lines. It has been scientifically proven that EMFs are associated to the increased risk of some cancers. State University of New York researchers conclude that EMFs exposures are responsible for 30% of all childhood cancers. In 1990, the US Environmental Protection Agency classified EMFs as a class B carcinogen (equal to class 2A in IARC of WHO classification, together with formaldehyde and DDT), which is a probable human carcinogen, indicating that there are sufficient evidences in animal experimental but limited findings on human carcinogenicity.

What appliances radiate EMFs?

Power lines radiate a high EMF. However, the question as to how much radiation can reach our home remains unanswered. Power companies generally have a standard about the best configuration of power lines which is considered safe. We do not need worried as long as the standard is properly applied. Home wiring on the other hand generally has a safe level of EMFs.

Computers radiate EMFs from all their sides. Some computers company state that EMFs radiated from computers to roughly 50 cm from their screen can reach 0.25 milliGauss (mG), a unit measurement for EMF. While the standard applied in some countries including the USA and Sweden is 1 mG, this means that computer users (such as bloggers :D) are still considered safe. However, careful should always be taken by avoiding a very close distance to computers.

Electric blankets (may be very rarely used in Indonesia) which are still in use in 4 seasons countries, can penetrate about 15 to 20 cm through human body. Using this appliance for long term is not recommended.

Despite of having insufficient evidence, the use of mobile phone is the most controversial among others. It is asserted that the amount of EMFs depends on types of devices. Some types are reported can emit EMFs up to 10 mG, while others were found having no measurable or very low EMFs. It is still unclear, what type of mobile phones can emit a considerable amount of EMFs. Another problem is related to the closeness to the brain and other organs inside our head while we are using a mobile phone. Thus, it is suggested that we should limit our conversation via mobile phone to 1 hour per day.

Other appliances such as televisions, fridges, microwave ovens and hair dryers are also radiate a sufficient amount of EMFs. This means that we will be never free from EMFs. The best thing to consider is that we should always minimise the risks. To avoid short term exposures, we should keep distance to the appliances being used, and in the long term we should maintain distance approximately 2 metres from those appliances while we are sleeping.

Notes: The main problem in assessing this relationship between EMFs and health is the difficulty in measuring the exposures level. This problem is a common problem in the investigation of the environmnetal influences on health