 
Electromagnetic Fields: Health Risk, Healing Power, or Neither?
Two contemporary issues illustrate this duality of fear and hope - a continuing concern that living near power lines can cause cancer in children and, on the other hand, claims of magnets relieving chronic pain. CU-Boulder electrical engineering Professor Howard Wachtel has been studying both issues as part of his long-standing interest in bioelectromagnetics. Possible carcinogenic effects of magnetic fields from power lines was elevated to a major national concern as a result of a study performed at the University of Colorado (American Journal of Epidemiology, 1988), Wachtel says. Professor Frank Barnes joined Wachtel and collaborators in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the CU-Health Sciences Center - notably David Savitz - in research that showed an approximate doubling of childhood cancer risk among children living close to high current capacity power lines. However, more recent work by Wachtel and Bob Pearson of Radian International has indicated that concomitant exposure to high-density vehicular traffic is a more important risk factor (Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, in press, Feb. 2000). Power lines are often found along high-traffic routes, and the elevated air pollution levels due to traffic could be acting in synergy with the electromagnetic fields associated with the power lines. Their most recent study has shown that exposure to high density traffic combined with the proximity of high current capacity power lines has the strongest association with childhood cancer rates, Wachtel says. Claims about the therapeutic value of magnets also have been controversial. Many scientists view these claims with skepticism, but Wachtel says there are some aspects to the claims, such as pain relief, that are plausible. A credible study at Vanderbilt University indicated a reduction in chronic pain with use of a magnetic quadrapole array. The magnets produce a particularly strong magnetic field gradient, which in principle, could cause displacement of biological particles with even very weak magnetic properties, possibly including the proteins that constitute the ion channels in nerve fibers, Wachtel says. Although such displacement could conceivably disrupt nerve functioning, a computer simulation directed by Wachtel in collaboration with adjunct professor Dave Beeman and graduate student Un Kyong Hand found the channel displacement required to block nerve conduction was greater than could be expected to be obtained using the magnetic array. Tests on isolated frog nerves also did not show the sort of changes implied by the Vanderbilt study. "Our research is aimed at sorting out the hopes and fears surrounding the biomedical effects of electromagnetic fields, and letting people know what's scientifically sound and what's not," Wachtel says.  Engineering Home |
Over the centuries, human beings have feared electricity and magnetism but also looked to them for healing purposes. Microwave ovens, cellular phones, and power lines, for example, have been the cause of great concern. Conversely, there is a widespread belief that magnets or electric fields can alleviate a variety of ailments.