Does high voltage power line affect nearby houses?

We are buying a house that is not too far from a high voltage power line. Some people say it is hazardous to live in houses like that because of the electric field and other aspect we do not know. It might also affect your radio and cell phone signals. That's why no houses are built directly under such power transmission lines. What is the standard or safety distance?
Thank you all in advance.

 

Nothing is built below the lines for at least one more elementary reason, although I don't know all the reasons: The easement or property is owned by the utility and they want access to the lines without the complications of buildings underneath.

I don't believe there is conclusive proof either way. You could assume it's not good for you, but it might be better than living 50 miles downwind from a power plant or paint factory.

I haven't kept up but the last thing I read on the topic was about a theory that the lines themselves were not causing problems, but that they ionized or otherwise affected pollutants already in the air in such a way that they were more likely to cause disease.

 

Don't, especially if you have kids.

The human body, at 6' long, is a very inefficient antenna for picking up energy at 60 Hz and its wavelength of thousands of miles. Antenna lengths should be 1/4 wavelength or longer.
Still. . ., the radiated energy of these lines is enormous. See if you can hold a flourescent bulb under the lines at night and have it light in your hand.

I am 1500' NW of an AM radio station. AM wavelengths are about 300 yards, and 6' is still way less than 300 yards.
So I measured the field strength with an oscilloscope and a home-made antenna and I think it was 100x below what the government says is a safe level. The station engineer told me that the field was intentionally weakened in my direction to avoid interfering with a station in Rhode Island (AM waves on winter nights carry for hundreds of miles). His estimate was half of what I measured. OK.
TV stations have much shorter wavelengths and I would already have moved out if this were TV towers.

Cell damage on a molecular level can take 20 years to show up.

I can't find the link now, but I believe it said that 6 kids in elementary school in Passaic NJ came down with leukemia, and the odds of this happening by chance were virtually 0.000.
It turns out the school was on a hill in the path of hundreds of microwave links, cell phone stuff, etc., etc..
I do know it was pre-1994.

For a dark-humor look at this school issue and what drives it, and the contest between $ and safety, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104114/

 

We live in a world of unintended consequences. There is no question that it's good to avoid any possible hazards, but at what cost? The Passaic case looks interesting, but microwave shots are a lot different than magnetic fields around power lines.

How is "enormous" quantified? I've heard of people shutting off the power in their house or in the bedroom to avoid the magnetic fields.

I am sure it is dependent on voltage etc., but I sometimes shop at a Target store in NW Milwaukee that is right next to a high-voltage power line. On a hot humid day I can hear the lines crackling and buzzing as I walk from my car into the store.

We live a mile or two from most of the TV and radio transmitters in Milwaukee. We are to the east and I believe at least one broadcaster radiates mostly westward since the lake is not a prime viewing target. Still, I wonder how much we are soaking up at this distance when I can look out my window straight at most of the towers.

The two 138 KV lines that feed the local substation are buried. I would guess that cuts their radiation pretty significantly.

Of course, I sometimes put my Nextel phone in my shirt pocket, too. Can't be good for my heart, can it?

I don't think a house next to a power line would be appealing, but if that house is $150,000 vs. $250,000 for the next best option, and I sacrifice the better health care plan to pay the larger mortgage, which is the better option? Or what if the mosquitoes don't like those fields and you're less likely to get malaria or West Nile?

 

Watch the movie "Neighbors".

 

I don't know, but the CSO Mortality Table gives me 22 years more, so if I can just stall for a while longer I won't have to decide at all!

 

One of my best friends lived very close to transmission lines and he had leukemia when we were in elementry school together. They obviously couldn't prove anything, but they think that could have been the most likely cause.

 

This is the most often heard "kids get leukemia". Though not proven and we do not have young kids, better not to take the risk. Thank you all for your reply.

 

One thing to remember is the magnetic field radiates around the wire not just falls down. A very easy test it get a non contact voltage tester like this: http://contractorservices.homedepot....5-e595d78cc6af

go to the the house and pull it out and turn it on. If it lights up, you know if the field reaches the house. If not, your in the clear. I found this out because I have done it myself. I can tell if a wire is 120v or 277v by how far the tester is away from the wire (120 has to pretty much touch the wire, 277 you can be about 1/2" away) the over head wires are carrying maybe thousands of volts and the higher the volts the larger the EMF.

 

a friend of mine lives near some lines. Not sure of the voltage, could be the biggies (765kV) due to our proximity to a couple nuke plants, could be less, not sure.

anyway, the neighbor was building a pole building right on the edge of the easement. All was well until they started hanging the steel. When a guy would walk up to the building and touch a piece of steel (which was insulated from ground because of the wood posts), he would get shocked. Yes, the lines induced enough voltage to shock the guys.

the decision was shortly made to move the thing a bit further away from the lines.

about the fluorescent lights. Check out this pic

 

The backyards of the homes across the street from where I grew up have large transmission towers running for about a mile to a substation. A study was done 20 years ago and it was determined that the instances of cancer in those homes was far higher than the average. Across the street, the instances of cancer is "normal". I was astounded to learn from one of the neighbors that every house on that side of our block (probably 15 homes) had at least one person with cancer.

 

It's not just $ that trump safety. Some cosmetics cause permanent damage to health, and this is not a state secret. Vanity also trumps safety.

 

You don't measure magnetic field using this device. It's made for electric fields. To show this, note that you don't need any CURRENT to get a response, only voltage. If there is no current, there is no magnetic field. Here is an example: An overhead 500kV line, lets say is 50 meters up. You will have an electric field strength of 500k/50, or 10,000 volts per meter. That 10k/meter is, for the most part, a constant between the wire and the ground directly beneath. This is what will cause a shock when handling conductive material below the wire. Although, the resultant current could still be quite low.

If you want some good reading, buy this: Possible Health Effects of Exposure to Residential Electric and Magnetic Fields (1997)
It covers the childhood leukemia threat, based on 15 years of study.
I, personally, don't have much of an opinion on the medical effects. I won't live near HV power, just because of RF noise, and it's adverse affect on communications.

 

Gotta love that 60Hz hum and corona. I don't think I'd park my car underneath it on a hot summer day.

 

Don't worry, there are people watching out for you. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_(politics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stigler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door_(politics)
http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/11/aviati...ety/index.html

But the source of these links is biased. That same person, back in 2003, said out loud what patterns he/she was seeing in statistical data and he/she also said out loud what those patterns meant and he/she was forced out of his/her government job with only the appearance of "due process."

If you want a thumbnail sketch of this story and its inevitable outcome, read "The Balek Scales" by Heinrich Boll.

But, hey, attorney's fees to keep your job and expose corruption are tax deductible.

Game Theory models much of human behavior. It's pretty grim.
There are no solutions except for us to evolve into a higher form of life. "Eve" lived ~500K years ago, so maybe another "Eve" is just about due.

 

BAA; Your last reply is gettin out there!

 

For me, "out there" is sometimes "here." Didn't Einstein have some things to say about relativity?

Check this out
http://www.cnn.com/US/9909/10/ivey.memo/