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Posted

We're close to buying a house with large transmission power lines located high up behind it with a tower about 22 meters away from the closest point in the backyard, and I'm trying to decipher whether or not there are any negative health effects from their EMF radiation. I went out and measured yesterday evening. At about 6:45 pm, it was around 2.3-2.75 uT (or 23-28 mG) under the line outside of the fence, ranging from 1.45-2.6 at different times in the middle of the yard, and then around 0.5 near the back door

Stuff on the internet is all over the place; there are articles citing old studies claiming that they can cause leukemia in children, but many on various boards dismiss these old studies as flawed and suspect and claim that there's no data or science that show negative health effects. There's surprising little consensus on this. 

We have two young children, so I'm being more cautious on this than I probably would be otherwise

I'm aware that at the very least it's an eyesore that lowers the resale value, but I think that's already priced in

Here's an example of someone dismissing the concerns from reddit

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Posted

Well it is called the 'work function' not the 'working function', and it is not the fundamental basis of quantum mechanics, though it did feature prominently in Einstein's famous paper back in 1905, so I call this debunking as debunked.

But it is true that 60 hz radiation cannot destroy biological molecules the same way as e.g. xrays or gamma rays. In the case of xrays ('ionizing radiation') the electromagnetic chunks (photons/quanta) have a large amount of energy, enough so if they interact with a biological molecule, they can blast it apart, which causes a variety of bad things. But the quanta from 60 hz radiation will have an extremely low amount of energy, and one photon by itself is not going to do anything to a specific biomolecule.

 

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Posted (edited)

I certainly don’t have an answer that’s definitely going to resolve the issue. To me, the claim has always seemed about as defensible as Andrew Wakefield’s. People are going to believe what they want, though. 

All other things being equal, I don’t care now and wouldn’t have cared when my kids were young. 

This does, however, for whatever stupid reason that I remember stupid things, remind me of this made for tv move from way too long ago: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081257/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl

IMG_2935.jpeg

Edited by Doc Daneeka
Posted

I think the broad consensus is that EM radiation from powerlines is harmless.

However, it will continue to be a resale hickey on the house forever. because there's no convincing some people.

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Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 7:42 PM, pantone159 said:

Well it is called the 'work function' not the 'working function', and it is not the fundamental basis of quantum mechanics, though it did feature prominently in Einstein's famous paper back in 1905, so I call this debunking as debunked.

But it is true that 60 hz radiation cannot destroy biological molecules the same way as e.g. xrays or gamma rays. In the case of xrays ('ionizing radiation') the electromagnetic chunks (photons/quanta) have a large amount of energy, enough so if they interact with a biological molecule, they can blast it apart, which causes a variety of bad things. But the quanta from 60 hz radiation will have an extremely low amount of energy, and one photon by itself is not going to do anything to a specific biomolecule.

 

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For the plan II majors, 60 hz being the frequency of the AC current in the power lines.

 

 

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Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 9:02 PM, High Plains Drifter said:

 

For the plan II majors, 60 hz being the frequency of the AC current in the power lines.

 

 

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I think it's really the Plan I majors you have to worry about.  Might as well throw in the Communications people, too. Plan II actually has to take math and science.

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Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 9:04 PM, TwiceHorn said:

I think it's really the Plan I majors you have to worry about.  Might as well throw in the Communications people, too. Plan II actually has to take math and science.

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You mean like, "Infinity is so super weird that it doesn't require a calculator!" and "So if Capt. Quackenbush's spaceship exists in only two dimensions, if he passed the event horizon of a supermassive black hole would he be stretched out like a piece of infinite Silly Putty or achieve total Consciousness?"

We looked at a property with transmission lines when our kids were little, so I read about it a bunch and asked a smart oncologist for his thoughts.  There's no good evidence to support causation.  If I remember right, the cluster cases were reported in the British Medical Journal, which for some reason likes to be alarmist about this kind of stuff and medical radiation.

Although I suppose it could be because their socialist grid is missing 10Hz of MURICAEAGLEFREEDOM.

Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 9:00 PM, TwiceHorn said:

I think the broad consensus is that EM radiation from powerlines is harmless.

However, it will continue to be a resale hickey on the house forever. because there's no convincing some people.

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Pretty much this. Unless it’s an absolute steal sounds like it’s not worth it 

Posted

All proposals of harm remain unproven, including leukemia and brain cancer. But houses that reportedly have ghosts are hard to sell - cant fix the stupid in other people.  If that leads to profit on your end, so be it. 

Posted

It seems clear that it’s unlikely to cause cancer

Do you guys who seem to know something about this have any concerns about other possible non-cancerous negative health effects from 20-30 mG in the backyard for little kids?

Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 11:54 PM, Fud said:

It seems clear that it’s unlikely to cause cancer

Do you guys who seem to know something about this have any concerns about other possible non-cancerous negative health effects from 20-30 mG in the backyard for little kids?

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My buddy grew up near some power lines. When he closes his eyes he can watch the Tyler ABC station.

Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 11:54 PM, Fud said:

It seems clear that it’s unlikely to cause cancer

Do you guys who seem to know something about this have any concerns about other possible non-cancerous negative health effects from 20-30 mG in the backyard for little kids?

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Well, don't let your kids climb up the Tower. Other than that, healthwise, it is fine. 

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Posted
  On 4/21/2023 at 12:45 AM, Dahobbs said:

Well, don't let your kids climb up the Tower. Other than that, healthwise, it is fine. 

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I’ve come across some speculation that it could cause cognitive issues in children, but that seems to be mostly anecdotal and unsubstantiated, but I wouldn’t mind finding studies that disprove it 

Posted
  On 4/20/2023 at 11:54 PM, Fud said:

It seems clear that it’s unlikely to cause cancer

Do you guys who seem to know something about this have any concerns about other possible non-cancerous negative health effects from 20-30 mG in the backyard for little kids?

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The Earth's 500 mG magnetic field intensity laughs at your 20-30 mG backyard magnetic field intensity.

 

 

Posted (edited)
  On 4/21/2023 at 4:54 PM, HornOnTheBayou said:

You're just thinking about the negatives, look on the bright side. Your kids might develop super-human strength or be able to shoot electricity out of their hands. I would call that a win.

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You've never dealt with a temper tantrum, I see. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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Posted
  On 4/21/2023 at 4:54 PM, HornOnTheBayou said:

You're just thinking about the negatives, look on the bright side. Your kids might develop super-human strength or be able to shoot electricity out of their hands. I would call that a win.

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How do you know if you’re getting magneto or dynamo 

Posted
  On 4/21/2023 at 10:42 PM, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Agree with all above. No health issues, only resale issues.  Price discount for sure, but bigger concern for me would be potential for how much longer it might take to sell.

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This house in particular seemed fine this time around. There were three competitive offers on the first day, and there’s currently two backup offers in case it falls through 

Posted
  On 4/21/2023 at 12:56 AM, Fud said:

I’ve come across some speculation that it could cause cognitive issues in children, but that seems to be mostly anecdotal and unsubstantiated, but I wouldn’t mind finding studies that disprove it 

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Poor people are usually dumber than other people.  Poor people gravitate to houses near power lines.  Thus the speculation is true that kids that grow up near power lines are dumber than the median but not because of magnetic fields.

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