This article was taken from the DALLAS TIMES HERALD On Thursday, November 30, 1989. Which originated from the Associated Press. WASHINGTON - A study by a leading U.S. health scientist has found a statistically significant link between cancer and human exposure to electromagnetic fields from the electrical wires that crisscross the nation. The unpublished findings by Dr. Genevieve Matanoski of Johns Hopkins University add to concern in the American scientific community that health risks from power distribution lines no longer can be ruled out. Matanoski, a professor of epidemiology, said Wednesday that her findings are preliminary and require further testing but that the results had changed her view of the theory about a cancer link to power lines. "I thought before that the theory was wrong," she said. "I'm not so sure any more." The major conclusions from her study of 50,000 New York state telephone workers are that there may be an increased risk of leukemia among active workers and that incidence rates for almost all types of cancer are highest among linemen, whose exposure to electromagnetic fields is the highest in the telephone worker group. Her study found three cases of leukemia among 4,500 linemen, an incidence rate seven times higher than among other telephone workers. Matanoski also found exceptionally high rates of breast cancer among male technicians who work on central office telephone switching equipment. Her study found two cases of breast cancer among 9,000 central office technicians; ordinarily the incidence rate for males would be about one in one million, she said. (The study apparently did not address the effects, if any, on people who live near power lines or towers.) Matanoski reported on her study at a technical meeting sponsored jointly by the Energy Department and the Electric Power Research Institute in Portland, Ore., two weeks ago. She said she expects to publish the findings early next year. A few days before the meeting, officials of EPRI, representing most electric utilities, sent letter to utility executives noting that Matanoski's results "may attract national attention because they suggest an increased risk of cancer." *** Additional article *** This article was taken from the Dallas Times Herald On Sunday, December 3, 1989. Which originated from the Associated Press. NEW YORK - Two events last week called attention to a new headache of the technological era: the cost of reducing human exposure to electromagnetic radiation. On Monday, International Business Machines Corp. confirmed that it cut radiation from its new large-computer terminals to comply with requests from European customers. On Wednesday, a researcher from Johns Hopkins University said she had found a link between cancer and human exposure to electromagnetic fields from power lines. The twin developments highlighted public concerns about whether electricity - the lifeblood of modern society - could be harming the people it intended to serve. Most of the discussion so far has focused on whether electromagnetic radiation really is harmful and in what amounts. But even if the early warnings turn out to be overstated, a movement to reduce human exposure to it seems to be well under way. The questions are what steps can be taken to cut exposure and how much will they cost? The reassuring answer is that many steps can be taken easily and cheaply. Even daunting problems may prove easier to solve than many think. Louis Slesin, who began putting out Microwave News in New York City a decade ago, said the latest developments carry conflicting messages. On the bad side, he said, the Johns Hopkins study indicated biological effects from alarmingly low levels of electromagnetic radiation. But on the good side, the new IBM displays show that cutting radiation - at least in the case show that cutting radiation - at least in the case of video display terminals does not always have to be expensive. An IBM official said last week that the new displays were built about as inexpensively as the old ones. IBM, incidentally, says it produced the new displays only to satisfy customer demands, not because of any health concerns. So far no other companies have followed suit. IBM's new terminals don't reduce radiation at a frequency of 60 hertz (cycles per second), the frequency that has been implicated in several medical studies, including the one at Johns Hopkins. Sixty hertz radiation is emitted by all kinds of electrical devices, from hair dryers to coffee makers to larger electricity- powered machines. Fortunately, early studies indicate that any danger is mainly from long-term exposure at sufficiently close ranges. The fields of most devices drop off sharply a few inches away, and people don't spend all day with them. Likewise, the hazard of video display terminals, if any, can be minimized by keeping an arm's length from the screen and a greater distance from neighboring terminals. There may even be relatively inexpensive ways to deal with power lines, both the long-distance transmission lines and the high-current distribution lines that go straight into populated areas. According to Slesin, one way to cut power lines' fields is disarmingly simple: Anchor two wires side by side, as in the average extension cord. Their alternating current fields should substantially cancel each other out. Utilities have gotten interested because the public's fear of electromagnetic fields has contributed to long delays in building transmission lines - even longer than the notorious delays in building new generating plants. SPECIAL NOTE Last month in `Consumer Report' they issue a warning, that children and pregnant women should not use electric blankets do to electromagnetic fields. Vangard Sciences P.O. Box 1031 Mesquite, Texas 75150 (214) 324-8741 Keelynet*BBS (214) 324-3501 Submitted by : Ron Barker