Effects of electric fields near power-transmission plant

Abstract

A critical study of the physical and physiological phenomena associated with exposure of living organisms to electric fields, together with a review of the literature on the subject, was carried out by a group of experts from the industrially developed countries under the auspices of the World Health Organization in 1978. It was concluded that electric fields were harmless up to transmission voltages of 400 kV. They were also of the opinion that this view was valid for electric fields associated with transmission voltages of up to 800 kV. This view remains, with the additional statement that the Soviet authorities also believe that their earlier assessments of this problem were pessimistic (Bourgsdorf 1980). Because of the overwhelming importance of the role of electricity in modern society, both industrially and domestically, further reseach work has been undertaken or planned in many countries, with strictly controlled conditions: but there is no new evidence to date to modify the view expressed by the World Health Organization group of experts in 1978.