Is exposure to EMFs harmful?

Yes, it can be. Although extremely rare, and usually the result of very high, accidental exposures, low-frequency EMFs can affect the nervous system, and high-frequency EMFs can cause the body and its tissues to heat up.

The long-term effects of lower level exposure to EMFs are less well understood and much more controversial, even though many studies have been conducted (mainly on the effects of magnetic fields on animals and humans).

Following a study in the USA in 1979, which suggested that EMFs could be linked with childhood leukaemia, there has been considerable debate about the safety of living near power lines. More recently, the safety of mobile phones has become an issue.

According to the latest report from the UK's National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB): “The possibility remains that intense and prolonged exposures to magnetic fields can increase the risk of leukaemia in children.”

Studies of long-term health effects in workers are, according to the NRPB, “conflicting”; some of the studies suggest that workers exposed to EMFs are at greater risk of brain cancer and leukaemia.

Research has also been done into exposure to Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) EMFs and neurodegenerative diseases which gradually attack and destroy nerve cells in the brain.

Some studies found weak evidence that ELF EMFs could cause Alzheimer's disease and stronger evidence that workers exposed to EMFs were at increased risk of developing another neurodegenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), although this could be due to having repeated electric shocks, rather than exposure to EMFs.