From Peter Wright, David Penington and Rob White
The leaks from the impending National Council on Radiation Protection report on the link between electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and cancer vividly illustrate the perils of environmental legislation in a world of scant knowledge (This Week, 7 October).
California and 12 other states, presumably in collaboration with the EPA, have introduced legislation that mandates the introduction of zero emissions vehicles from 1998, rising to 10 per cent of all light vehicles sold by 2003. Although electric vehicles are not true ZEVs, only achieving that status at point of use, it would appear that electric propulsion is the only technology currently envisaged to meet this mandate.
The NCRP report and the forthcoming Environmental Protection Agency review are likely to lead to legislative standards for exposure to EMFs that will kill off electric vehicles. If the future safety limit is set at 0.2 microteslas, and a vacuum cleaner can expose the user to up to 20 microteslas, sitting on top of a 40-kilowatt electric motor for long periods is going to do the driver and passengers no good at all.
What is the strength of the EMF near a microwave oven and a television or computer screen?
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Your article lists the electromagnetic fields from various household appliances at 30 centimetres, but there is no mention of electric blankets or duvets. Should I throw mine away? I spend about a third of my life less than 1 millimetre away from it.
