Re: [Phys-l] Natural Gas versus Electricity

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

Somehow I missed this thread -- probably during my change of computers.

Regarding microwave scanning it's well known that microwaves cause 
cataracts.  So much so that the Prof. at UCSC doing microwave 
spectroscopy told me to always warn the students to keep their heads 
away from horns and unterminated wave guides even tho the power was only 
around 10 milliW.  I've also read about techs dying from accidentally 
getting blasted by highly powered radar antennas. 

PG&E occasionally has inserts about magnetic fields.  They also admit 
it's not yet decided.  There have been positive rat (mouse?) studies, 
which curiously become negative when higher intensity fields are used.  
If I remember correctly the worst (best,  if one wants to develop a 
ratcide) effect is at about the level from the rear of CRT displays and 
around 50 => 100 Hz.  I'm suspicious enough to the extent of 
recommending Gate Keeper not use the clock radio as a pillow.

I have two political comments:

First I suppose, like the IP, I should be amused instead of offended by 
the cave comment.  These "primativists" are not the ones who want us to 
live in caves.  It is instead the proponents of nuclear weapons.

Some socialist tendencies have evidently persisted even tho the CEGB was 
privatized.

bc, who was invited to interview for a position with the CEGB in 1969.

p.s. The issue of childhood lukemia, etc. was "sparked" by a very long 
article in the New Yorker. [1990 July 9 follow up 19th]

"ANNALS OF RADIATION about cancer & power lines. Writer tells about an 
extraordinary number of cancer cases & other illnesses among residents 
of Meadow St. in Guilford, Conn. The trouble may have been caused by an 
electric substation on the street but Connecticut Light & Power Co. said 
there was no proof of this. Next writer tells about a cluster of 
brain-tumor cases in Rowan County, near Salisbury, N.C. The largest 
number were near the Duke Power Company's Buck Steam Plant. Again 
inaction was the result of these revelations. Next writer tells about 
cancer among children in Montecito. CA. An investigation revealed 
electrical installations around the Montecito Union School but there was 
no conclusive evidence of a health hazard so nothing was done. A number 
of schools in the Fountain Valley School District in Southernal Calif. 
were built near high-current feeder lines & there were several cases of 
cancer but no action was taken. Tells about the numerous studies that 
show workers exposed to electromagnetic fields develop cancer at a 
higher rate than unexposed workers. During the past year the EPA has 
been swamped with requests from the public for information about 
electromagnetic fields & in May it released preliminary information 
about a draft report prepared by its office of Health & Environmental 
Assessment, which acknowledges the existence of a possible link bet. 
cancer & power lines. What EPA director Wm. Farland did not tell the 
press was that his own staff had recommended in the initial draft report 
that ELF electromagnetic fields be classified as "probable human 
carcinogens" & this was deleted from the summary of the EPA report."


And,

"DEPARTMENT OF AMPLIFICATION of ANNALS OF RADIATION(7/9/90) about power 
lines & their effect on cancer rates on residents of Meadow Street, in 
Guilford, Connecticut; on citizens in two small towns in North Carolina; 
and on pupils in a California elementary school. Tells about a meeting 
at the Guilford Public Library on Aug. 20th, during which two officials 
of the Connecticut Department of Health Services Division of 
Environmental Epidemiology and Occupational Health declared that their 
was no cancer cluster on Meadow Street. Among those listening to the 
presentation was Robert Hemstock, a Guilford resident, who, in January 
of this year, first sounded the alarm about a cluster on Meadow Street. 
Hemstock noticed that three of the 29 cancers on a map displayed by the 
Health Dept. appeared to have occurred along the route of a feeder line 
that carried high current from the Meadow Street substation to other 
towns..."

The author refutes the counter claims of the power co. despite his 
correction of the exageration of some of his data.  The map used by the 
power co. to refute the authors claim ended up reinforcing it!


G.D. Williams wrote:

> > The small group of people who want to return humans to the caves have been
> > trying for decades to show that radiation from electrical power (usually
> >    
> >
> > from high-voltage transmission lines) is a health hazard.  They haven't
>  
>
> > been
> > able to do so.  For every statistically questionable study that shows some
> > negative health factor, they seem to come up with another (equally
> > questionable) study that shows positive correlations.
> >    
>
> I attended a rather good conference here in the UK recently where the
> speaker from the National Grid said that there definitely was clustering of
> child lukemia cases around high voltage utilities. There is no known causal
> link as yet (and if there is one it may not be anything to do with the
> electricity supply i.e. reduced value housing near electric train tracks,
> sub stations etc occupied by lower income families on poor diets etc). I was
> pleasantly surprised that he even admitted that there was clustering. His
> open and unbiased manner restored my faith in that particluar industry.
>
> Cheers
>
> Gary
>
> G. D. Williams,
> Editor, Physics Education
> National Coordinator, IoP Teacher Network
> gary.williams@iop.org
> gdwilliams100@hotmail.com
>
>