From the London Sunday Times
Top scientists establish link
Pylons are cancer risk - official
Jonathan Leake Science Editor
Families may sue over cancer link to pylons
HIGH voltage power cables have been officially linked to cancer
for the first time. A study shows that children living near them
run a small but significant increased risk of falling victim to the
disease.
Sir Richard Doll, the epidemiologist who discovered the link
between smoking and lung cancer in the 1960s, will this week
warn that children living near electricity power lines are at an
increased risk from leukaemia.
He is also expected to say that there may be a link with adult
cancers but that this is unproven. His work was commissioned
by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), the
government's radiation watchdog.
Doll is chairman of its Advisory Group on Non-ionising
Radiation (Agnir). He has spent months analysing the results of
studies on cancer among people living near power cables.
It is the first time a British government body has accepted the
link between cancer and power lines.
It raises the possibility of multi-million-pound claims by families
who have blamed their children's illnesses on the cables. It
could also reopen campaigns by local groups to have power
lines buried underground or moved away from homes.
Professor Colin Blakemore, a member of Doll's group, said:
"The evidence is that there is a slightly elevated risk of cancer
near to power lines. We are going to acknowledge that
evidence exists indicating an association between power lines
and cancer."
Blakemore said the mechanism was uncertain but could be
due to the high voltage lines emitting charged particles called
ions which may then be inhaled.
Blakemore added: "It's important to acknowledge that there is a
link and we need to do more research on it. Putting power lines
underground would be a possibility. The cost would be
enormous if we did this to existing power lines, but it is
something that we may have to take into account for future
development and especially new housing."
Doll's report will emphasise that more research is needed to
confirm the mechanism. Previous studies - which have been
considered by Doll's expert committee - have suggested that
tens of thousands of people in Britain live close enough to
power lines to be affected by strong electromagnetic fields.
The analysis in the new report suggests that a small number of
children each year could develop cancer.
The link between overhead power lines and cancer was first
made in America in 1979. By 1990 several independent British
studies had also suggested that electromagnetic fields could
damage health. However, successive reports ruled out the
connection and legal action by sufferers against electricity
companies was abandoned.
The NRPB oversees safety research and regulation for all kinds
of radiation. It has always taken a cautious approach to claims
that power lines affect health, but this weekend insiders were
acknowledging that it may have to revise its policies.
Martyn Day, the solicitor who in the mid-1990s pursued
unsuccessful claims on behalf of leukaemia victims, believes
that the findings could enable legal action to reopen.
"This is probably the most significant step forward for 10
years," he said. "I was forced to back off, pack away the files
and put them into archives, but this may well mean I will start
to dust them off once more."
The Electricity Association, which represents many of Britain's
power generators and distributors, said there was no concrete
evidence that the electric and magnetic fields generated by
power lines caused cancer. "Any suggestion of a health risk,
however weak, needs to be taken seriously," it added.
The end for overhead aluminum power cables in populated areas. Copper underground will be the only way to go. Stephen O. |
