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Results of a multisite study of U.S. residential magnetic fields

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 12, pages 9–20 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper describes the study design, measurement protocols, and results of a project examining residential magnetic-field exposures at eight sites across the contiguous United States. The goal of the project was to investigate surrogates that have been used in epidemiologic studies to characterize residential magnetic-field exposure. These surrogates include: personal-exposure (PE), fixed-location long-term (LT), and outside and inside point-in-time (PIT) magnetic-field measurements; net-service (or ground current) measurements; and the “wire-code category” of the residence. (The latter is a surrogate for magnetic-field exposure based on the nature and proximity of electric power lines outside the house.) Measurements were conducted on four visits to each of eight sites between January 1994 and June 1997 for a study population of 218 single-unit detached dwellings. Information on the residence, residents, and neighborhood was collected. A simple random sample of 392 single-unit detached dwellings at the sites was used to create a weighted sample of houses representative of the population of single-unit residences. The correlations among the various types of 60-Hz magnetic-field measures were relatively strong (Pearson r>0.74, Spearman ρ>0.78). Variability of PE and LT measurements, as measured by the standard deviations during a visit, was independent of wire-code category. Visit means for PE, LT, and outside and inside PIT were well correlated over periods between visits of from 1.5 to 20 months (r>0.62, ρ>0.76). These results support the use of survey measurements (less demanding than personal monitoring) to represent exposure that occurred up to 20 months in the past. The principal component of the total variance in PE measurements was the between-house variance; between-visit and between-site variances were generally less important. This supports the sampling of many houses with relatively few visits in residential exposure characterization studies. There was a trend for presumably higher wire-code categories to be associated with higher field summary measures for all summary measures related to magnetic-field magnitude, including PE and LT resultant, and inside and outside resultant (60 Hz) and harmonics. However, because of the overlap in field levels between categories, wire code was not a good predictor of magnetic-field levels, accounting for less than 21% of the variance in magnetic-field measurements.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by EPRI (WO3533-01), as well as by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Empire State Electric Research oration. The authors thank the participating utilities and staff for their efforts in soliciting customer participation, wire-coding and selecting residences, and accompanying the measurement technicians to the houses. Under the direction of Peter Walter and John Longo, the CH2M HILL measurement technicians did an admirable job of collecting data and maintaining data integrity, often in adverse weather conditions. J. Richard Alldredge of Washington State University provided valuable consultation on the statistical analyses performed by the project. Sharon S. Bouray and Joseph Dudman of T. Dan Bracken, Inc., assisted in the preparation of the document, and data management, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Research Services, Inc., Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA

    RICHARD F RANKIN

  2. T. Dan Bracken, Inc., Portland, Oregon, USA

    T DAN BRACKEN & RUSSELL S SENIOR

  3. EPRI, Palo Alto, California, USA

    ROBERT KAVET

  4. Judith H. Montgomery/Communications, Bend, Oregon, USA

    JUDITH H MONTGOMERY

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  1. RICHARD F RANKIN
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  2. T DAN BRACKEN
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  5. JUDITH H MONTGOMERY
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Correspondence to T DAN BRACKEN.

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RANKIN, R., DAN BRACKEN, T., SENIOR, R. et al. Results of a multisite study of U.S. residential magnetic fields. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 12, 9–20 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500196

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