Residents of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, may have the highest exposures to power-frequency magnetic fields anywhere in the world. A survey by the Taiwan EPA found that 18% of elementary school classrooms, hospitals and homes had levels exceeding 10 mG (1 µT), according to the June 15 Taipei Times.
The EPA made the measurements after a study by Fu Jen Catholic University found that 95 primary schools and 49 junior high schools, with a total of more than 18,000 students, are within 20 meters of high-voltage power lines. The EPA administrator has said that the ICNIRP standard of 833 mG does not provide sufficient protection, the Times reported last February.
In contrast, a 1998 survey estimated that less than 0.5% of the U.S. population is exposed to more than 10 mG (see MWN, M/J98). And according to a 2001 U.K. report, only 4 children in a 1,000 are exposed to 4mG or more. At the time, a panel led by Sir Richard Doll described a 4mG field as "intense" (see MWN, M/A01).
In 1998, an epidemiological study by Chung Yi Li and coworkers at Fu Jen Catholic University showed that children living within 100 meters of a transmission line had more than twice the incidence of leukemia compared to children who did not live near power lines (see MWN, M/A98).
