Evidence for There are a number of studies showing a possible link between exposure to magnetic fields in the home (and/or living close to high voltage power lines) and a small excess of childhood leukaemia. It is estimated that 2 to 5 cases from the total of around 500 cases of childhood leukaemia per year in the UK could be attributable to magnetic fields. This number is based on the assumption that exposure has to be above a certain threshold before there could be a health effect. The overall evidence, however, is not strong enough to draw a firm conclusion that magnetic fields cause childhood leukaemia. Evidence against Magnetic fields don’t have sufficient energy to damage cells and thereby cause cancer. At present there is no clear biological explanation for the possible increase in childhood leukaemia from exposure to magnetic fields. The evidence that exposure to magnetic fields causes any other type of illness in children or adults is far weaker. Extract from HPA (NRPB 2004) advice:
…the overall evidence for adverse effects of EMFs on health at levels of exposure normally experienced by the general public is weak. The least weak evidence is for the exposure of children to power frequency magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia.
Comparing childhood leukaemia risks with other risks in the environment If magnetic fields cause childhood leukaemia, the evidence suggests that this would explain 2 to 5 of the 500 cases that occur each year in the UK. To put this in context, about 140 children are killed each year in the UK due to traffic accidents and there are an estimated 2,700 deaths in the general population due to passive smoking.