In the last six months, a number of international conferences or seminars – more than usual – have discussed the health issues related to extremely low-frequency fields. The European Bioelectromagnetics Association (EBEA)organised its tenth conference in Rome in February. The International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE) held its EMF-ELF 2011 conference in Paris in March, and in May it was time for the NIR & Children’s Health conference in Ljubljana, co-organised by the WHO and the ICNIRP.

The issues discussed at the CIGRE conference were also highlighted in Rome and Ljubljana. What was especially interesting for me to hear at the Rome conference was that a research group was planning to investigate the health effects of magnetic fields of more than 1000 microT. In recent years, the effects of clearly smaller magnetic fields have already been studied quite extensively.

In Ljubljana, my interest was piqued by a French study that found out that with children the higher than usual magnetic field exposure (more than 0.4 microT) is mostly caused by clock radios. The researchers had studied the exposure of about 1,000 children. I think their observations are quite significant – it will be interesting to see how this information influences future studies. The proportion of exposure caused by power lines is clearly lower than perhaps previously assumed.

I also found some interesting new scientific articles for this bulletin. They include an analysis on the relationship between magnetic field exposure and childhood leukaemia, and a study on human cognitive performance in a magnetic field. An Italian research group conducted an extensive follow-up study on workers’ exposure at work, at home and outside the home.

Even though this bulletin focuses on extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields, I also included one article that deals with intermediate frequencies (300 Hz–100 kHz). The article in question presents a study on plasma balls, which mainly serve as decorative items or touchable toys in which a suitable voltage and ionised gas are used to create bursts of electric discharge. The plasma ball is a good example of facing a high-level exposure without even necessarily realising this is the case. People certainly come up with all sorts of interesting things!

The summary of the first situation report bulletin for the year 2011 (pdf) is published online in English.

Hope you enjoy reading this summary in English!

As I started to compile this situation report, I thought that I might not even find enough new studies or other interesting publications. I already knew that neither the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) nor the European Union has published anything new.

My doubts turned out to be unfounded as I found several interesting publications. I start the report with an article that focuses on the potential link between extremely low-frequency electric fields and cancer. A number of studies have discussed the association of magnetic field exposure with cancer, so the subject seemed new and fresh. According to the researchers there is very little evidence for the assumption that electric fields could be associated with health risks. If you would like to read up on this topic in more detail, you should read the comment related to the article and the reply to it in Bioelectromagnetics.

The next few articles demonstrate how extensively this subject matter is being discussed and studied around the world. In Japan, the researchers have studied the association between power-frequency magnetic fields and childhood brain tumours. In Rome, research has been conducted on the morbidity experience in populations residentially exposed to 50 Hz magnetic fields. As to the Swiss population, research has been conducted on residence near power lines and mortality from neurodegenerative diseases.

The last two publications are part of my own research. The first one reports on an extensive survey conducted a few years ago. Based on an open question in the survey and using qualitative methods, the aim was to estimate the number of Finns experiencing electromagnetic hypersensitivity. According to this data, the number is quite low. My other publication is a follow-up on studies that examine occupational exposure to electric and magnetic fields. This particular study dealt with work tasks carried out at 110 kV substations in the Tampere region.

Now the summary of the first situation report bulletin for the year 2010 ispublished online in English.

I hope you enjoy reading this first brief summary!

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!