The health impacts of low-frequency electric and magnetic fields are widely discussed nowadays. The first impression is that quite a large amount of new scientific information is generated every year, but it is hard to keep on top of it all. However, I don’t think that truly new scientific data is being produced more than before; it is rather that different types of comments and summaries may be being generated in greater abundance.

Thanks to the Internet, it is now possible to acquire and distribute information in a quite efficient way, which is why the existing knowledge is moving more efficiently than it was before. This adds to the feeling of getting more new information than before, making it difficult to discern what is really happening. To keep you and myself better up to date as to what is going on with health issues related to low-frequency electric and magnetic fields, I have promised to edit a situation report bulletin (in Finnish) dealing with these issues a couple of times a year.

The goal of this project is to produce situation report bulletins on medical-oriented studies related to electric and magnetic fields for about two years, as these studies are particularly interesting from the perspective of population exposure. The aim is to achieve and maintain a clearer picture of the current situation with regard to different reports/studies and their significance. This will also equip the people working in transmission line projects to discuss the various issues with their interest groups and increase the companies’ transparency regarding research data. The project will focus on public exposure to electric and magnetic fields and the associated medical issues. The project is being funded by Fingrid Oyj, and the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy is involved in its management group.

Now the summary of the first situation report bulletin (1/2009) is published online in English.

I hope you enjoy reading this first brief summary!

We started a new project “Occupational exposure of electric and magnetic fields at 110 kV substations” in April 2009. The aim of the project is to investigate occupational exposure at 110 kV substations using measurements. In addition, the aim is to also study the current densities in the neck and total contact currents (induced by electric field), if the action value (10kV/m) of directive (2004/40/EC)is exceeded. The project will last until the end of the year 2010.

The physiological effects and exposures of electromagnetic fields have been studied at Tampere University of Technology (by an Environmental Health research group ). One aim of the studies was to examine the exposure of the electric and magnetic fields at substations and power lines and evaluate their possible biological effects on workers.

Our newest article, “Evaluation of current densities and total contact currents in occupational exposure at 400 kV substations and power lines”, by Leena Korpinen, Jarmo Elovaara, and Harri Kuisti was published in Bioelectromagnetics in April 2009. The main aim of the project was to investigate the current densities in the neck and total contact currents (induced by electric field) in occupational exposure at 400 kV substations and power lines using measurements.

In another project “Evaluation of the exposure to electric and magnetic fields near 110 kV power lines and at 110 kV substations” we measured the exposure to electric and magnetic fields near 110 kV transmission lines in the Tampere region and the exposure to magnetic field of 110 kV underground power cables. The project ended this year. The results of these measurements will be presented at BioEM2009 in Davos, June 2009.

There is quite a lot happening regarding the topic of exposure to electric and magnetic fields. New research results flood in and the new directive causes all kinds of preparatory work. This seems to have remained a very timely issue year after year and seems to be that even today.

The E-Girls project of the Vaasa region aimed at making it easier for girls in particular to start studies in electrical engineering or electronics. The goal was to increase the number of female students in technology and, with time, also the number of women working in technology industry. In addition, one aim was making girls more interested in industry as such. It is common knowledge that the proportion of women working in technical jobs in industry is very low at the moment.

The project worked on developing further a web course for senior secondary school students, called Electricity, electronics and environment. The course was supplemented with local viewpoints by adding a few case examples bringing in information about local enterprises. The cases touched the following themes: 1) Climate change raises discussion 2) Stumbling on slippery streets ? can technology help? 3) Recycling a car is free 4) Increasing airport comfort through technology 5) Seeking bids from energy companies is possible 6) Electricity production in India 7) Using a microwave oven at home.

The new version of the web course Electricity, electronics and environment was given in the autumn of 2007. Students in Ostrobothnia region comprised of students from Härmä, Kauhajoki, Laihia, Ylistaro and Vaasa senior secondary schools, as well as the comprehensive schools of Vähäkyrö, Mustasaari and Laihia. In addition, there were students from Pirkkalan yhteislukio. 53 students signed in for the course and 41 completed it (77 %). 18 (44 %) of the students were girls. 25 students were senior secondary school students and 16 were from comprehensive school level.

Student feedback showed that the web course was considered interesting and the subject matter useful. It is likely that the web course will form a part of the instruction program of the University of Vaasa even after the project. The web course brought the students closer to the computer and the Internet and familiarized them with new ways of learning. Moreover, senior secondary school students also became a little more acquainted with the industry of Vaasa region.

The project was funded by The European Social Fund (ESF), the County Administrative Board of Southern Finland and state. The partners in cooperation were Vaasan lyseon lukio, Nicefactory Oy, The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, Wärtsilä Finland Oy and The Tritonia Learning Center.