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Mobile ViewENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY Aerobiology Associations AIR CLEANER PURIFIER TYPES AIR FILTERS for HVAC SYSTEMS AIR FILTERING STRATEGIES AIR HANDLER / BLOWER UNITS AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS AIR POLLUTANTS, COMMON INDOOR Air Quality Improvement Strategies AIR LEAK SEALING PROCEDURE AIR SEALING STRATEGIES AIR TEST FOR MOLD: ACCURACY AIR TEST SAMPLING CASSETTE STUDY AIRBORNE MOLD SPORE COUNT ACCURACY ALLERGEN TESTS for BUILDINGS ANIMAL ALLERGENS / PET DANDER ANIMAL ENTRY POINTS in BUILDINGS ANIMAL ODORS IN BUILDINGS ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS ASBESTOS MATERIAL REGULATIONS ASBESTOS Photo Guide to Materials / Products ASBESTOS REMOVAL GUIDE, FLOORING ASBESTOS RISK ASSESSMENT ATTORNEYS and EXPERT WITNESSES Backdrafting Appliances BASEMENT MOLD BATHROOM MOLD BIBLIOGAPHY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, MOLD, IAQ BIOLOGICAL POLLUTANTS Bisphenol-A, BPA BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION BLOWER FAN OPERATION & TESTING BLUE vs YELLOW COMBUSTION FLAMES BOOKSTORE - ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING SAFETY HAZARDS GUIDE BUY PRODUCTS for MOLD & ALLERGY CONTROL Cadmium in the home CARBON DIOXIDE - CO2 CARBON MONOXIDE - CO Carbon Nanotube Hazards CARPET DUST IDENTIFICATION CARPET MOLD CONTAMINATION CARPET STAIN DIAGNOSIS CARPETING & INDOOR AIR QUALITY CARPETING, SELECTION & INSTALLATION CAT DANDER in BUILDINGS Cell phone Radiation Hazards CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR COALSTOVE SAFETY CHINESE DRYWALL HAZARDS CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS in WATER CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER CHLORINE IN SEPTIC WASTEWATER COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS Disinfectants Disinfecting Buildings with Bleach DRAFT HOODS - gas fired DRAFT MEASUREMENT, CHIMNEYS & FLUES DRAFT REGULATORS, DAMPERS, BOOSTERS DRINKING WATER Diethylstilbestrol - DES DUCT SYSTEM & DUCT DEFECTS DUST ANALYSIS for FIBERGLASS DUST SAMPLING PROCEDURE EMF EMF Cancer Scare EMF RF FIELD & FREQUENCY DEFINITIONS EMF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS & HUMAN EXPOSURE EMF Levels of Cancer Risk EMF MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS EMF MEASUREMENT PROCEDURES EMF SURVEY PROCEDURE - Details Introduction to EMF Measurement EMF/EMR Measurement Procedure Overview EMF Variability Electrical Utility Workers & EMF Exposure EMF Instrument Sensitivity & Accuracy EMF Polarity & Shape Affect Measurements Distance from the EMF Source Affects Strength Time of day & Season Affect EMF Strength Local EMF Sources May Exceed Power Line Strength Recommended EMF Measurement Procedure Outside EMF Measurements Outside EMF Measurement Documentation Indoor EMF Measurements Other Indoor EMF Measurement Targets Workplace EMF Measurements EMF Measurement Documentation Details EMF Measurement Instrument Use Definitions of Gauss vs Milligauss Position-sensitive EMF Instrument Readings Interpreting Electromagnetic Field Strength EMF Survey Evaluation of Low-Cost EMF Instruments Accuracy & Calibration of EMF Instruments Calibration of EMF Instruments in the Field Calibration of EMF Instruments by Electric Company Electromagnetic Field EMF ELF Detection Instruments F.W. Bell Model 4060 ELF Meter Safeco™ analog EMF ELF EMR meter Walker Scientific ELF-50D™ Digital EMF Meter Radio Frequency RF Detection Meters BK RF Measurement Test Equipment Mobile Design Shipboard RF Measurements Safe Living RF Meters - Radio Frequency Detectors Zap Checker Radio Frequency Detection Hand Held Instruments References for Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer WORKSHEET for EMF MEASUREMENTS WORKSHEET for EMF MEASUREMENTS - Example WORKPLACE EXPOSURE to Electromagnetic Fields ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS ENVIRO-SCARE - PUBLIC FEAR CYCLES EXTERIORS of BUILDINGS Fiberboard Insulation Sheathing Mold Fiberglass Enviro-Scare FIBERGLASS HAZARDS FIBERGLASS PARTICLE CONTAMINATION TEST FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD FIBERGLASS PARTICLE CONTAMINATION TEST Fireplace Inserts Fireplaces & Woodstove Contaminants FLAME COLOR, BLUE vs YELLOW COMBUSTION FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-mold FLOOR DAMAGE DIAGNOSIS FLOOR TYPES & DEFECTS FLOOR TILE ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION FLOOR TILE HISTORY & INGREDIENTS Floor Tile, Asbestos, Photo ID Guide FORMALDEHYDE HAZARDS Formaldehyde Gas Hazard Reduction GAS DETECTION & MEASUREMENT GAS EXPOSURE EFFECTS, TOXIC GAS EXPOSURE LIMITS & STANDARDS GASES, EXPOSURE TESTING GAS FIRED WATER HEATERS GAS LP & Natural Gas Safety Hazards GAS MEASUREMENT TOOLS GAS PIPING, VALVES, CONTROLS GAS TOXICITY LEVELS GLARE, Sunlight/Lighting Control HUMIDITY CONTROL & TARGETS INDOORS HVAC Systems HEATING OIL EXPOSURE HAZARDS, LIMITS HUMIDITY CONTROL & TARGETS INDOORS House Dust Analysis IAQ ISSUES, OTHER INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT INSULATION IDENTIFICATION GUIDE INSULATION MOLD INSULATION, UFFI UREA FORMALDEHYDE FOAM LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE LEED Building Designation & IAQ Legionella Legionnaires' Disease Legionella BACTERIA & HVAC Equipment LIGHTNING PROTECTION LP & Natural Gas Safety Hazards METHANE GAS SOURCES MILDEW REMOVAL & PREVENTION MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD MOLD AGE - Old is the Mold? 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This paper discusses the origins & history of consumer, home owner, & home buyer concern that electromagnetic fields - EMF - might cause cancer in humans, the effect on house prices caused by cycles of public fear about potential, imagined, or real environmental hazards. InspectAPedia offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest. We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices, false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at InspectAPedia.com/Contact.htm.As people become acclimated to the particular topic it loses its initial shock value. Links to other resources include EMF Procedures & Causes of EMF Measurement Error & Variation . Also see EMF RF FIELD & FREQUENCY DEFINITIONS for a simple explanation of different types of radio frequency (RF) and electromagnetic frequency (EMF) types and where they are found. © Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website. Origins of Cancer Scare and Electromagnetic Fields
A lengthy US government review of studies of the health effects of exposure to EMF concluded both that the actual level of risk was uncertain and that prudent avoidance of significant EMF exposure was warranted. A later Swedish study of the health effects of electromagnetic fields was able to overcome important difficulties in calculating actual EMF exposure levels, and suggested that there was indeed some carcinogenic risk from EMF exposure. The Swedish EMF study is important: it established a "dose-relationship" between the amount of exposure and the frequency of leukemia. The failure of other studies to demonstrate a specific dose-disease relationship has been used by utilities and government to assert that there is no proven relationship and no proven risk associated with EMR.
The enviro-scare cycle, in my opinion, derives from periodic surges of journalist and media attention to studies of the carcinogenic effect of exposure to electromagnetic fields. For example, there was considerable media attention to Werth's observation that living along the Denver Colorado power line right-of-way caused an EMF exposure which appeared to cause (or correlate with) a "doubling of the probability of childhood leukemia" for children living along the right-of-way of this overhead power transmission facility. The concern for possible carcinogenic or "cancer-causing" effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields at the frequency and strength generated by power transmission lines has been studied for some time. Some contemporary research (by epidemiologist Nancy Werth, the "Denver Study") suggested a possible (but in fact small) correlation between exposure to 60 cycle electromagnetic fields (EMF) and the occurrence of leukemia in children. Her study found that the occurrence of childhood leukemia in the Denver Colorado area tended to cluster along and follow the path of a power distribution line which passed through a portion of the city. (I've already mentioned the "study of studies" and the important Swedish study above.) Stating risk this way ("doubling the risk of childhood leukemia from power transmission line EMF exposure") is understandably frightening to parents, particularly those unfamiliar with statistics and the mathematics of risk assessment. As I will amplify below, if an exposure doubles a number which is at the start infinitesimally small, say 1 chance in 10,000, then the doubled number is still infinitesimally small, say 2 in 10,000. A careful reading of the Werth study or an interview with Werth herself would almost certainly yield a more cautious opinion about the level of risk than that generated by a public reading of news reports. But this analysis is not comforting to everyone. The more broad topic of public fear and assessment of the level tolerable health risk has been widely discussed, and has as a component, the individual's assessment of the level of control that s/he has over the risk. So people who smoke, an act which creates a far greater health risk than power transmission lines, assess that risk as more moderate because they have a sensation of being able to "choose their poison." Our own field measurements of EMF levels at residential properties or at specific locations within buildings have found a wide range of levels of exposure to building occupants. Remarkably, I've found that local ambient EMF levels in built-up residential areas are often quite close to the (rather low) reaction threshold discussed in the Werth and other studies, even where no obvious overhead electric power transmission facility is involved.
The implications of this observation and its accuracy merit further discussion and research since there could be small local sources in buildings which also affect occupants. Some examples are listed later in this paper. Both the difficulties of measuring actual EMF exposure and the current level of knowledge about the health effects of EMF bear thoughtful discussion, some of which I address in this paper. Electric utility workers who spend time repairing or installing power transmission lines and transformers probably have the highest exposure to electromagnetic fields. Consumers researching the possible health effects of EMF exposure should look closely at these studies for both the study conclusions and the care (and lack of bias) with which such studies may have been performed. Because various parties have conflicting interests, research and advice on this topic have been confusing. The interested parties include building owners and sellers, realtors, home buyers, power transmission companies, journalists, and scientists or researchers who themselves are supported by various funding sources. A new study of studies which tests for correlation between the interests of each funding source and the results of studies performed would be a helpful test of conflicting opinions on this topic. Questions & Answers regarding this article. Ask a Question or Search InspectAPediaHTML Comment Box is loading comments...
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