In the previous bulletin, I promised I’d get back to the EU Directive being prepared on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) in this bulletin. As far as I know, the directive proposal is still being discussed within EU institutions, so there is nothing new to report on it.
Quite a few scientific articles have been published since the previous bulletin. Several articles discuss the association between childhood leukaemia and magnetic fields. One of them includes calculations on the estimated overall population attributable risk of leukaemia cases caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields. Another study examines the way policy decisions are made, sometimes based on insufficient information. The topic can be approached from a wide range of perspectives.
While looking for material for this bulletin, I found so many articles on childhood leukaemia that it started to look rather an unbalanced collection. In the end, I managed to find articles on some other themes as well. One group, for example, has studied whether maternal exposure to magnetic fields from high-voltage power lines is associated with the risk of birth defects. The researchers conclude that the study did not provide support for the assumption that exposure to magnetic fields during early pregnancy would increase the risk of birth defects in offspring. This is a positive piece of news for all who might have worried about the issue.
Finally, I’d like to mention two more articles. I found quite an interesting article that explored whether the magnetic fields generated by incubators might influence melatonin production in newborns. I don’t remember seeing any similar studies before. The bulletin again concludes with an article related to occupational exposure; this time it’s a study on various blood chemistry parameters in employees.
Hope you enjoy reading this summary in English!
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