Environmental justice: a contrary finding for the case of high-voltage electric power transmission lines

Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields of High Voltage Overhead Power Lines and Female Infertility

Background:

Living in the vicinity of high voltage power lines has brought about a range of health woes, but the effect of residential exposure to electromagnetic fields from the power lines on female fertility has not been explored yet.

Objective:

To test the hypothesis if residential proximity to high voltage power lines could be associated with the increased risk of female infertility.

Methods:

In a case-control study, 462 women with confirmed diagnosis of unexplained infertility or behavioral and environmental factors were assessed between February 2014 and December 2016. Control group comprised of 471 persons with no history of infertility selected using randomized-digit dialing from the numbers registered in a birth registry between 2014 and 2016. The nearest linear distance from high voltage power lines to the participants' residence of cases and controls was measured using a Geographical Information System (GIS) and Google Earth aerial evaluation for high voltage power lines (240–400 kV).

Results:

112 (14.1%) houses were within 500 meters from a high voltage power line. Women living within 500 meters of the lines (OR 4.14, 95% CI 2.61 to 6.57) and 500–1000 meters of the line (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.47) carried a significantly higher risk of infertility than those women living more than 1000 meters away from the power lines. After adjusting for confounding factors, women living within 500 meters of the lines carried a higher risk (aOR 4.44, 95% CI 2.77 to 7.11) of infertility compared with women living more than 1000 meters of the lines.

Conclusion:

The current safety guidelines for electromagnetic fields exposure seems to be not adequate for protecting people from the hazardous effects of the field.

The sensitivity of reported effects of EMF on childhood leukemia to uncontrolled confounding by residential mobility: a hybrid simulation study and an empirical analysis using CAPS data

PURPOSE

Residential mobility is considered as a potential source of confounding in studies assessing environmental exposures, including in studies of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposures and childhood leukemia.

METHODS

We present a hybrid simulation study where we simulate a synthetic dataset based on an existing study and use it to assess the sensitivity of EMF-leukemia associations to different scenarios of uncontrolled confounding by mobility under two major hypotheses of the infectious etiology of childhood leukemia. We then used the findings to conduct sensitivity analysis and empirically offset the potential bias due to unmeasured mobility in the California Power Line Study dataset.

RESULTS

As expected, the stronger the assumed relationship between mobility and exposure and outcome, the greater the potential bias. However, no scenario created a bias strong enough to completely explain away previously observed associations.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that uncontrolled confounding by residential mobility had some impact on the estimated effect of EMF exposures on childhood leukemia, but that it was unlikely to be the primary explanation behind previously observed largely consistent, but unexplained associations.

Residential mobility and childhood leukemia

AIMS

Studies of environmental exposures and childhood leukemia studies do not usually account for residential mobility. Yet, in addition to being a potential risk factor, mobility can induce selection bias, confounding, or measurement error in such studies. Using data collected for California Powerline Study (CAPS), we attempt to disentangle the effect of mobility.

METHODS

We analyzed data from a population-based case-control study of childhood leukemia using cases who were born in California and diagnosed between 1988 and 2008 and birth certificate controls. We used stratified logistic regression, case-only analysis, and propensity-score adjustments to assess predictors of residential mobility between birth and diagnosis, and account for potential confounding due to residential mobility.

RESULTS

Children who moved tended to be older, lived in housing other than single-family homes, had younger mothers and fewer siblings, and were of lower socioeconomic status. Odds ratios for leukemia among non-movers living <50 meters (m) from a 200+ kilovolt line (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 0.72-3.65) and for calculated fields ≥ 0.4 microTesla (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 0.65-4.52) were slightly higher than previously reported overall results. Adjustments for propensity scores based on all variables predictive of mobility, including dwelling type, increased odds ratios for leukemia to 2.61 (95% CI: 1.76-3.86) for living < 50 m from a 200 + kilovolt line and to 1.98 (1.11-3.52) for calculated fields. Individual or propensity-score adjustments for all variables, except dwelling type, did not materially change the estimates of power line exposures on childhood leukemia.

CONCLUSION

The residential mobility of childhood leukemia cases varied by several sociodemographic characteristics, but not by the distance to the nearest power line or calculated magnetic fields. Mobility appears to be an unlikely explanation for the associations observed between power lines exposure and childhood leukemia.

Symptom reporting after the introduction of a new high-voltage power line: a prospective field study

BACKGROUND

There is public concern about the potential health effects of exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) of high-voltage power lines (HVPLs). Some residents living near HVPLs believe ELF-EMF might cause non-specific health complaints.

OBJECTIVES

The present study is the first to prospectively investigate whether self-reported health complaints and causal beliefs increase after the construction of a new power line.

METHODS

We used a quasi-experimental design with two pretests before and two posttests after a new HVPL was put into operation. Residents living near (0-300m, n=229; 300-500m, n=489) and farther away (500-2000m, n=536) participated in the study. Linear mixed models were fitted to test whether symptom reports and beliefs that power lines caused health complaints increased more in residents living close to the new line compared to residents living farther away.

RESULTS

A significantly (p<.05) larger increase from baseline in symptom reports and causal beliefs was found in residents living within 300m from the new power line when compared to residents living farther away. While symptom reports did not differ at baseline, the belief that a power line could cause these symptoms was at baseline already stronger for residents living close compared to residents living farther away.

CONCLUSIONS

We found a negative impact of a new HVPL on health perceptions of nearby residents, even before the line was put into operation.

A decade of environmental public health tracking (2002-2012): progress and challenges

BACKGROUND

The creation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Public Health Tracking Program spawned an invigorating and challenging approach toward implementing the nation's first population-based, environmental disease tracking surveillance system. More than 10 years have passed since its creation and an abundance of peer-reviewed articles have been published spanning a broad variety of public health topics related primarily to the goal of reducing diseases of environmental origin.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate peer-reviewed literature related to Environmental Public Health Tracking during 2002-2012, recognize major milestones and challenges, and offer recommendations.

DESIGN

A narrative overview was conducted using titles and abstracts of peer-reviewed articles, key word searches, and science-based search engine databases.

MAIN OUTCOMES

Eighty published articles related to "health tracking" were identified and categorized according to 4 crossed-central themes. The Science and Research theme accounted for the majority of published articles, followed by Policy and Practice, Collaborations Among Health and Environmental Programs, and Network Development.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, progress was reported in the areas of data linkage, data sharing, surveillance methods, and network development. Ongoing challenges included formulating better ways to establish the connections between health and the environment, such as using biomonitoring, public water systems, and private well water data. Recommendations for future efforts include use of data to inform policy and practice and use of electronic health records data for environmental health surveillance.

Urban planning and health equity

Although the fields of urban planning and public health share a common origin in the efforts of reformers to tame the ravages of early industrialization in the 19th century, the 2 disciplines parted ways in the early 20th century as planners increasingly focused on the built environment while public health professionals narrowed in on biomedical causes of disease and disability. Among the unfortunate results of this divergence was a tendency to discount the public health implications of planning decisions. Given increasingly complex urban environments and grave health disparities in cities worldwide, urban planners and public health professionals have once again become convinced of the need for inclusive approaches to improve population health and achieve health equity. To make substantive progress, intersectoral collaboration utilizing ecological and systems science perspectives will be crucial as the solutions lie well beyond the control of any single authority. Grounded in the social determinants of health, and with a renewed sense of interconnectedness, dedicated and talented people in government agencies and communities who recognize that our future depends on cultivating local change and evaluating the results can come to grips with the enormous challenge that lies ahead to create more equitable, sustainable, and healthier cities worldwide.