Environmental Health News, published by Environmental Health Sciences, has released a science and policy briefing reviewing the health and environmental evidence on extremely low-frequency EMF from high-voltage transmission lines and substations. The report finds the U.S. has never completed a federal health-based review of power-frequency EMF, citing links to childhood leukemia, adult cancers, Alzheimer's, and reproductive and wildlife effects, and notes that countries including Switzerland, Germany, and Norway have adopted more precautionary policies.
It recommends a federal regulatory framework, health-based exposure limits, EMF disclosure requirements, and protective siting for schools and homes, as the U.S. undergoes its largest transmission-line expansion in decades to meet electricity demand from AI and data centers.
"The United States is undergoing its largest expansion of high-voltage electric transmission infrastructure in decades to support growing electricity demand of artificial intelligence and data centers. However there is no comprehensive federal framework to assess or manage health and environmental effects of long-term exposure to the electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) generated by high-voltage power lines."
"Scientific evidence supports a risk mitigation approach. Studies have reported increased risks of childhood leukemia, adult cancers, Alzheimer's, oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and other biological effects. The evidence on childhood leukemia was sufficient for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to classify extremely low-frequency EMF magnetic fields as a Group 2B Possible Human Carcinogen in 2002, and the link continues to be found in more recent studies."
"Industry guidelines do not address long-term health risks. IEEE and ICNIRP exposure limits were developed primarily to prevent acute effects such as nerve stimulation and electric shock. They were not designed to protect against long-term outcomes including cancer or neurological disease."
"Many countries have adopted precautionary policies that exceed current U.S. practice. Numerous governments, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Denmark, Norway and Finland, and the United Kingdom have implemented policies or measures to reduce public exposure including protecting schools and homes with setbacks, optimizing transmission line design to reduce EMF, conducting EMF calculations before construction and publishing public guidance or EMF maps."
