Risk Research: When Should We Say "Enough"?
M. Granger Morgan · 1986
Government research on 60-hertz electromagnetic fields has not demonstrated a hazard but has produced an inconclusive data set while funding is being cut back.
Plain English Summary
Government agencies invested heavily in research examining whether 60-hertz electromagnetic fields from power lines pose health risks. The research demonstrated that low-frequency fields can produce changes in living systems under specific circumstances but has not demonstrated that a hazard exists. Laboratory animal screening studies largely failed to find adverse health impacts, and epidemiological studies linking long-term exposure to cancers were inconclusive. The scientific evidence neither clearly indicates a significant risk nor clearly indicates little or no risk from 60-hertz field exposures.
Why This Matters
Some observed changes appear to involve nonlinear transductive coupling at cell surfaces in relatively weak fields. Government research programs are being cut back or eliminated due to budgetary constraints despite the inconclusive data. State regulatory agencies have arbitrarily imposed regulations on power line fields amid growing public concern.
Finding
Research can never demonstrate that a risk does not exist. It can establish probabilistic bounds on possible risks, and, if those bounds are sufficiently low, we should then say "enough."
In their words
“Research can never demonstrate that a risk does not exist. It can establish probabilistic bounds on possible risks, and, if those bounds are sufficiently low, we should then say "enough."”
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Show BibTeX
@article{risk_research_when_should_we_say_enough__g6505,
author = {M. Granger Morgan},
title = {Risk Research: When Should We Say "Enough"?},
year = {1986},
}