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Title: Status report on potential human health effects associated with power frequency electric and magnetic fields. Reporting period: June 1992-June 1993. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7284944

The report reviews articles published between June 1992 and June 1993 and ongoing research on the potential adverse health effects from exposure to power frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMFs). It reviews the epidemiology and general human health effects of EMF, and relevant research findings in the areas of animal tumor studies, experimental studies of biological, developmental, immunological, neurobehavioral and physiological effects, and cell-level research. Appendices cover state and local initiatives regarding regulation of EMF exposure, and studies of exposure mitigation. More than half of the major epidemiologic studies this year reported weak associations between EMF exposure and cancer, principally leukemia, but all suffer from the small numbers of cases involved. Data from animal tumor studies have been as contradictory as in previous years with respect to the activity of EMF as a tumor promoter. While a majority of the reported studies of the biological effects of EMF describe positive findings, these effects are not completely consistent, and results obtained by one group cannot always be replicated by other researchers. The most convincing effects are mild behavioral disturbances, altered heart rate, changes in daily rhythms of melatonin production by the pineal, effects on calcium transport, and modifications in gene expression.

Research Organization:
Information Ventures, Inc., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
OSTI ID:
7284944
Report Number(s):
PB-94-151784/XAB
Resource Relation:
Other Information: See also PB--93-132678
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English