From CLIVE MATHER, JONATHAN HOBLEY
Presumably chemical pollutants as well as radon would be concentrated near
high-tension cables (This Week 17 February, p 4).
Some people living near high-voltage power lines have reported headaches
and other minor health problems. Organic compounds and smoke particles from
vehicle exhausts for example, if concentrated by electrical fields might
explain this. Furthermore, high-tension cables tend to generate ozone. This
gas reacts with organic compounds to give reactive, toxic substances similar
to those that are created in photochemical smog.
Surely the most obvious cause of ill health would in fact be the large
amounts of ozone produced in substations and pylons due to electrical
discharges. (These discharges also cause the chattering sound which one hears
when close to a pylon). Some weeks ago while walking near Kirkstall substation
I could distinctly smell ozone at a distance of around 50 metres from the
station. Ozone is a fairly reactive oxidising agent which should be
investigated if one is seriously looking for the mysterious link between
substations and ill health.
