Radiological Protection Bulletin, No. 228, December 2000 - 7

UK Childhood Cancer Study: Residential proximity to power lines

The abstract of the article is given here.

The results of the EMF part of the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS) were published in 1999 ^{1, 2}. The main conclusion of the case-control study was that there was no evidence that exposure to magnetic fields associated with the electricity supply in the UK augments the risk for childhood leukaemia, cancers of the central nervous system, or any other childhood cancer. More recently an important subsidiary analysis has been carried out which focuses on the relationship between childhood cancer and residential proximity to power lines ³. The analysis was made possible because during the course of the study information on electricity supply equipment was collected from the UK electricity companies. NRPB set up an external source database in order to manage the information. The results, recently published in the British Journal of Cancer, are consistent with those of the primary analysis, which was based on measurements. There is no evidence in the UK that either proximity to electrical installations, or the magnetic field levels they produce, is associated with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia or any other cancer.

1 UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators. Exposure to power frequency magnetic fields and the risk of childhood cancer. Lancet, 354, 1925-31 (1999).

2 UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators. The UK Childhood Cancer Study: objectives, materials and methods. Br. J. Cancer, 82, No. 5, 1073-102 (2000).

3 UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators. Childhood cancer and residential proximity to power lines. Br. J. Cancer, 83, No. 11, 1573-80 (2000).

Myron Maslanyj, Terry Mee and Stuart Allen
National Radiological Protection Board
Chilton