root@mccc.uucp (Pete Holsberg) (11/26/89)
I'm looking at a house that has power lines running at the rear edge of
the property and I'm wondering if radiation of any kind from those lines
might affect my computer, disks, whatever. None of the people who live
there now have 11 fingers or 3 eyes or even one computer. Does anyone
have any knowledge about the relative safety/danger of that environment
to people and electronic devices?
Thanks.
--
Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334
1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG
Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/27/89)
In article <1989Nov25.213858.4811@mccc.uucp> root@mccc.uucp (Pete Holsberg) writes: >I'm looking at a house that has power lines running at the rear edge of >the property and I'm wondering if radiation of any kind from those lines >might affect my computer, disks, whatever. None of the people who live >there now have 11 fingers or 3 eyes or even one computer... Health effects of living very near major power lines (the big ones with the metal towers, not just ordinary local wire-on-pole types) are somewhat controversial. One or two studies have shown effects that are noticeable enough to cause some concern, although attempts to replicate them have not been uniformly successful. There may be some small health hazard. However, we're definitely talking about subtle, low-level effects from large power lines. Anything bigger would have been noticed long ago. If you're talking about just an ordinary power line, not a high-voltage transmission line, forget it. *All* urban houses have such lines near them, although in some cases the lines are buried rather than elevated. You get much more exposure to magnetic fields etc. from the wiring in your own walls. Effects on computers will be zero unless something remarkable is going on. Contrary to popular folklore, even a fairly respectable magnet needs to be within a few millimeters of disks etc. to have any effect. -- That's not a joke, that's | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology NASA. -Nick Szabo | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
Doug_B_Erdely@cup.portal.com (11/27/89)
My advice would be to NOT buy the house. There have been several studies that have tied cancer and high tension electric lines together. A recent study even suggests that you not use an electric blanket! - Doug - Doug_B_Erdely@Cup.Portal.Com
roy@phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) (11/27/89)
In article <24509@cup.portal.com> Doug_B_Erdely@cup.portal.com writes: > My advice would be to NOT buy the house. There have been several studies > that have tied cancer and high tension electric lines together. A recent > study even suggests that you not use an electric blanket! I think this was taken rather out of context. The way I understood it, there wasn't any real proof one way or the other but it was recommended that pregnant women not use electric blankets only because if there is one time it is justified to be paranoid about health risks, it's when you're pregnant. Anybody who is really worried about this would do well to ignore anything heard on the net and look up the actual studies. -- Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 {att,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy -or- roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu "The connector is the network"
bobd@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Bob DeBula) (11/28/89)
Make of this what you will: I remember a study from several years ago (10+) that a study by one of the power companies revealed that cows would hang out by 765Kv towers, but horses would not. I for a variety of reasons would not buy close to a high tension line (nasty buzzing noises, snap crackle pop & purple flashes that I have observed at one near my house during rain storms, etc...). I just can't help but feel that close proximity isn't going to do you or your computers any good. I would expect interference on TV & radio to be worse than normal also. -=- ========================================================================== Bob DeBula | Internet: bobd@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu The Ohio State University | Disclaimer: These are my views, not the U's Davros sez: When my Daleks compute they use X-TER-MI-NALS!
marc@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Marc Schroeder) (12/05/89)
In article <1989Nov25.213858.4811@mccc.uucp> root@mccc.uucp (Pete Holsberg) writes: >I'm looking at a house that has power lines running at the rear edge of >the property and I'm wondering if radiation of any kind from those lines >might affect my computer, disks, whatever. None of the people who live >there now have 11 fingers or 3 eyes or even one computer. Does anyone >have any knowledge about the relative safety/danger of that environment >to people and electronic devices? > >Thanks. > >-- >Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh >Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334 >1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG >Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800 I've heard people asking this same question before (ie. do high voltage lines threaten health). I doubt it. The current flowing through the line is a.c., yes, and that means there's a constantly changing electric field. As you know, this means that the lines are giving off electromagnetic radiation. HOWEVER, in North America a.c. only alternates at 120 Hz. This means that the radiation being emitted is only 120 Hz. That is extremely LOW, and is probably not a threat to anyone. Mutations due to exposure to radiation are usually only found with much higher frequencies (ie. long term exposure to UV light, gamma radiation, etc..). I'd also guess that power lines can't harm your computer. /\ _ _ \ iNet/Envoy : m.schroeder (org. id = kort) ( / \/ \ / \ e-mail : marc@cpsc.UCalgary.CA / / / / \ Fidonet : Marc Schroeder @ 1:134/47 / / / (_/____/ \__/ Marc A. Schroeder * 1st year computer science University of Calgary
irwin@m.cs.uiuc.edu (12/06/89)
/* Written 10:01 am Dec 4, 1989 by marc@cpsc.ucalgary.ca in m.cs.uiuc.edu:sci.electronics */ In article <1989Nov25.213858.4811@mccc.uucp> root@mccc.uucp (Pete Holsberg) writes: >I'm looking at a house that has power lines running at the rear edge of >the property and I'm wondering if radiation of any kind from those lines >might affect my computer, disks, whatever. None of the people who live >there now have 11 fingers or 3 eyes or even one computer. Does anyone >have any knowledge about the relative safety/danger of that environment >to people and electronic devices? > >Thanks. > >-- >Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh >Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334 >1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG >Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800 +I've heard people asking this same question before (ie. do high voltage +lines threaten health). I doubt it. The current flowing through the line +is a.c., yes, and that means there's a constantly changing electric field. +As you know, this means that the lines are giving off electromagnetic +radiation. HOWEVER, in North America a.c. only alternates at 120 Hz. This +means that the radiation being emitted is only 120 Hz. That is extremely +LOW, and is probably not a threat to anyone. Mutations due to exposure to +radiation are usually only found with much higher frequencies (ie. long +term exposure to UV light, gamma radiation, etc..). +I'd also guess that power lines can't harm your computer. + /\ _ _ \ iNet/Envoy : m.schroeder (org. id = kort) + ( / \/ \ / \ e-mail : marc@cpsc.UCalgary.CA + / / / / \ Fidonet : Marc Schroeder @ 1:134/47 + / / / (_/____/ + \__/ + Marc A. Schroeder * 1st year computer science + University of Calgary /* End of text from m.cs.uiuc.edu:sci.electronics */ AC in North America is <60 Hz>, not 120. (This seems to be real good for keeping electric clocks on time) Most nations have either 50 or 60 Hz, though I once lived in the Canal Zone in Panama, where they had 25 Hz, and it was not too difficult to detect the "movie projector flicker effect." First thing I did wrong was to plug in my electric shaver and burn it up. Al Irwin Univ of Illinois Dept of Comp Sci irwin@m.cs.uiuc.edu