Chronology | Current Month | Current Thread | Current Date |
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] | [Date Index] [Thread Index] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] | [Date Prev] [Date Next] |
Regarding Mark S.'s comment:
From a public health point-of-view the risks from EM radiation from power
lines probably is much lower than the risks encountered from the generation
of the electricity in the first place.
This is *especially* so considering that from a physical point of view
power lines do not even emit hardly *any* EM radiation in the first
place. At 50/60 Hz the wavelength for EM radiation is about
6000/5000 km. The ratio of the distance between conductors (carrying the
differently directed currents in a power line) to such a wavelength is
*extremely* small. And the radiated power is an immeasurably small
amount compared to the power carried along the line and the power
dissipated in it.
In any event, as I recall, all the fuss about power lines had nothing to
do with their radiation, but with their *non-radiating* oscillatory
near-field magnetic fields. (But I agree with Mark that even the risk
associated those near-fields is probably much lower that the risks
related to the generation process.)
David Bowman
David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu