As usual, I start the editorial of the situation report bulletin by sharing the latest about 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). As far as I know, further progress has been made in the matter, and I expect the completed directive to be published in the next few months. At the BioEM2013 conference in Thessaloniki on 10–14 June, there was a session on the forthcoming directive, but it has not been officially published yet.
In addition to the BioEM2013 conference, some other events related to electromagnetic fields have been organised in the past six months. In February, the European Commission discussed risk communication by hosting the “Workshop on risk communication – electromagnetic fields and human health”. The workshop presentations are available on the conference website.
Again, I found some fascinating new scientific articles for this bulletin. This time I included more articles on occupational exposure, as more of them were available than usual – and this was the case with articles related to adults in general too. I also thought that with the new directive right around the corner, occupational exposure is now of even more interest than usual.
I start, however, with an article dealing with childhood leukaemia. This study was conducted in France, and it seems they will continue their research on this topic there. From children, I move on to adults and to a study that investigated the potential association of exposure to overhead power lines with adult cancers.
Magnetic field exposure caused by cars has also attracted researchers’ attention, so I chose two vehicle-related articles for this bulletin. The first one compares the magnetic field exposure caused by electric and petrol-driven vehicles, and the latter one focuses on occupational exposure in the automotive industry. Magnetic fields seem to be low in electric cars, yet somewhat higher than in petrol-driven vehicles.
Hope you enjoy reading this summary in English!
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