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Link between power lines and leukemia still weak Last Updated: 2005-06-03 9:32:00 -0400 (Reuters Health) NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers have found that proximity to high voltage power lines may be associated with childhood leukemia - but as previously reported in other studies -- the association remains "slight" and "the relation may be due to chance." There have been several studies over the years that either support or contradict a relationship between electromagnetic fields and cancer. The current study, published in the British Medical Journal, compared approximately 29,000 cases of cancer (including 9700 cases of leukemia) diagnosed before age 15 years in the UK with a similar number of cancer-free "controls" matched for gender, date of birth, and birth registration district. Dr. Gerald J. Draper, at the University of Oxford, and his associates identified subjects living within 1 kilometer of 275 kV and 400 kV overhead power lines. The team found no association between distance from power lines and overall incidence of cancer. However, children living within 200 meters of a power line had a 69 percent higher risk of leukemia than those who lived more than 600 meters away. Between those two distances, the risk was increased by 23 percent. "As this is further than can readily be explained by magnetic fields it may be due to other (causative) factors associated with power lines," the group notes. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Heather O. Dickinson, from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, notes that magnetic fields surrounding power lines amounts to "about 1% of the earth's magnetic field, which affects all of us all the time." Thus, the relationships that Draper's group observed may reflect another factor that varies geographically, she suggests. BMJ science editor Dr. Geoff Watts points out that proposed mechanisms supporting a link between electromagnetic fields and cancer "is at best thin and at worst non-existent." "Before activists begin blowing up pylons, a bit of perspective might help," he adds. Even if such a link exists, he says, Draper's findings indicate that power lines may be associated with only about five cases of childhood leukemia each year. SOURCE: British Medical Journal, June 4, 2005. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/CybhMB/SOnJAA/xGEGAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Support List) --------------------------------- Part Of CMLHope.Com An International Community Of CML Patients For more information: http://cmlhope.com Post Message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To No Mail/Web: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CML Group Web Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
