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Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Radiation Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Radiation
Health Effects

The issue of extremely low frequency (ELF) biological effects is very controversial. Research has focused on possible carcinogenic, reproductive, and neurological effects. Other suggested health effects include cardiovascular, brain and behavior, hormonal and immune system changes.

General Health Effects Reviews
Leukemia and Other Cancers
  • 1999 NIEHS Report on Health Effects from Exposure to Power-Line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Publication No. 99-4493, 752 KB PDF, 80 pages. States that the strongest evidence for health effects comes from associations observed in human populations with two forms of cancer: childhood leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia in occupationally exposed adults.
  • ELF Electromagnetic Fields and the Risk of Cancer: Report of an Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation. Health Protection Agency (HPA), National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) Documents, Volume 12, No.1. Reviews the evidence on cancer risks from residential and occupational extremely low frequency (ELF)- electric magnetic field (EMF) exposures, which has been published since an earlier NRPB report (1992).
  • Assessment of Health Effects from Exposure to Power-Line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Working Group Report, (1998, August), 6 MB PDF, 523 pages. By a vote of 19 to 9, a panel of experts convened by the NIEHS concluded that the electric and magnetic fields like those surrounding electric power lines should be regarded as a "possible human carcinogen." This conclusion was based largely on human epidemiological evidence in the face of animal and other laboratory studies that the panel agreed did not support or refute the population studies.
Cellular, Physiological, and Behavioral Changes
Static Fields

Note: Although static fields are not part of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, static is most closely associated with extremely low frequency (ELF), and so it is included here. At this time, there is no Static Fields Safety and Health Topics page.
 Safety and
 Health Topics
 
  Extremely Low
Frequency (ELF) Radiation
  Standards
  Health Effects
  Hazard Locations and Solutions
  Evaluating ELF
Exposure
  ELF Safety
Programs
  Additional
Information
  Credits
 
Content Reviewed 04/21/2006
 
 


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