Those high voltage power lines, are they good or bad for you?  I mean healthwise.

I was looking at a house to buy up north, but then I noticed that it was right next to these high wire power lines, you know, the high voltage ones? So I thought, “that can’t be good. Aren’t those bad for you?  I seem to recall that they cause cancer, childhood leukemia, that sort of thing.”

Why the concern?  High voltage lines create electromagnetic fields around them, and this exposes anything nearby to electromagnetic radiation.

Radiation, that dreaded word that means too much of it will cause cancer.

However, there are some other things that cause an electromagnetic field too–like microwaves and cell phones.

Hmmm. I think I remember something about microwaves, when they first came out, about not standing too close to them. Cell phones too, I remember reading a big warning that they could be bad news for you.

So is this one of those areas that has conflicting views? Is the research legit?

Since homes are still being built by these power lines, the opinion is that they are harmless. But you know, is that true?

As I read through the many studies it seems to indicate that there is no correlation between cancers and illnesses and those electromagnetic fields.   (BMJ)

Ok, ok, maybe they are fine.

Then, this last week I hiked the mountain behind my mom’s house and as I reached a lookout point I realized that these huge high voltage power lines are strung right over my house where I grew up.  I had been living some 20 years right underneath those lines. Go figure.  Nothing to worry about now.

Then I hear in the news about the benefits of this electromagnetic radiation in cell phones and Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, involving mice, provides evidence that long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves associated with cell phone use may protect against, and even reverse, Alzheimer’s disease.
The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. (webMD)

Now it is good for you–so they say in the newest research. Use a cell phone and keep your memory–restore your memory.

Less than two years ago they were warning us that cell phones may cause Alzheimer’s. (warnings)

Some things we just can’t worry about.

When I was hiking,  I looked up at those high voltage wires and I did wonder how they maintain them–who works up there?  And then I found this cool video–  Now this would pose a health threat for me.