Psychological effects of chronic exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields in humans living near extra‐high‐voltage transmission lines

Abstract

The validity of several published investigations of the possibility that residential exposures to 50 Hz or 60 Hz electromagnetic fields might cause adverse psychological effects, such as suicide and depression, may have been limited by inadequate controlling for confounders or inadequate measurement of exposures. We investigated the relationships between magnetic field exposure and psychological and mental health variables while controlling for potential confounders and careful characterising individual magnetic field exposures. Five-hundred-and-forty adults living near transmission lines completed neuropsychological tests in major domains of memory and attentional functioning, mental health rating scales and other questionnaires. Magnetic field measurements were taken in each room occupied for at least one hour per day to provide an estimate of total-time-integrated exposure. The data were subjected to joint multivariate multiple regression analysis to test for a linear relation between field exposure and dependent variables, while controlling for effects of possible confounders. Performance on most memory and attention measures was unrelated to exposure, but significant linear dose-response relationships were found between exposure and some psychological and mental health variables. In particular, higher time-integrated exposure was associated with poorer coding-test performance and more adverse psychiatric symptomatology. These associations were found to be independent of participants' beliefs about effects of electromagnetic fields.

Affective response to 5 µT ELF magnetic field‐induced physiological changes

“…Research into the effects of weak magnetic fields (MFs) at biologically relevant frequencies has produced ambiguous results. Although such fields do affect human physiology and behaviour, the direction of effects is inconsistent [Cook et al, 2002;Leitgeb and Schröttner, 2003] with a range of complex and apparently unrelated behaviours being susceptible, including mental health declines [Beale et al, 1997], pain sensitivity [Papi et al, 1995], 'paranormal' experiences [Wiseman et al, 2002[Wiseman et al, , 2003Braithwaite, 2004], and sleep disturbances [Graham and Cook, 1999].…”

The Biologic Effects of Grounding the Human Body During Sleep as Measured by Cortisol Levels and Subjective Reporting of Sleep, Pain, and Stress

“…Major depressive illness is associated with disturbances of pituitary-adrenal function with chronic high cortisol levels and disruption of normal circadian cortisol profiles (Linkowski et al, 1985). Depression, suicide and headache have been linked to exposure to electromagnetic fields (Baris et al, 1996;Baris and Armstrong, 1990;Beale et al, 1997;Brown et al, 1987;Dowson et al, 1988;Kay, 1994;McIntyre et al, 1989;McMahan et al, 1994;Perry et al, 1981;Perry et al, 1989;Poole et al, 1993;Reichmanis et al, 1979;Savitz et al, 1994;Semm et al, 1980;Van Wijngaarden et al, 2000;Verkasalo et al, 1997;Welker et al, 1983;Wilson, 1998). Chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields has also been linked to neurologic changes including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cognitive impairment and spatial disorientation (Johansen and Olsen, 1998;Lai, 1996;Lai andCarino, 1998, 1999;.…”

Exposure to electromagnetic fields and suicide among electric utility workers: a nested case-control study

“…[9][10][11][12] Moreover, exposure to EMFs has been linked with depression and depressive tendencies. [13][14][15][16][17][18] Finally, there is strong evidence that depressive illness is an important risk factor for suicide. 3,4 We conducted a case-control study to consider the risk of suicide for electric utility workers for whom individual estimates of exposure to magnetic fields were obtained based on job titles.…”