Living near the end of the line isn't that good. At bends and the end of the
line the fringing fields (electric) are greater. There's also current
induced in the ground from the line. The crackling noise you hear is
electrical arcing which produces ozone. There's also current pulses from
lightning discharges on the line and there's the magnetic field.

The biological effects are many. At 60 Hz you have the alpha dispersion
dielectric of mammalian tissue. Your body has a dielectric constant of 6,000
to 30,000 at 60 Hz. That means your body easily polarizes to the 60 Hz field
and the electric field is increases in the body by the dielectric constant,
ie 6,000 - 30,000 times. The polarization is caused by large molecules in
the body moving to align with the applied electric field, much the way
magnets polarize with each other. Your bones are piezoelectric, squeeze
them and they generate electricity. Apply an electric field and they will
actually change length. If you receive an electric field pulse during the
refractory period of the cardiac cycle your heart will stop. People are
frequently killed by lightning strikes that never hit them, the induced
current from the nearby strike stop the heart. An intense 60 Hz electric
field can slow, stop or even reverse chemical wave propagation in the body.
Your heart and nerves work on chemical waves. That means it can change nerve
conduction, intracellular and extracellular potentials.

As far as verfiable real effects, people prone to siezures are very
susceptible in small magnetic and electric fields. Cardiac problems are also
verifiable, as are nerve problems. Other effects are probably long term and
are things such as stress, headaches, malaise, etc.

I also know of cases of people getting shocked from swing sets, bicycle
handle bars and lawn mower handles under powerlines. I bet a garden hose
would be fun, or think of being in a swimming pool full of chlorine ions. If
you move under the power line at speeds greater than 10 mph you can induce
tens of thousands of volts into yourself , car, bicycle, etc.

Read the CRC "Handbook of Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields" by
Polk and Postow for the physics and tissue measurements.

I can find plenty of other references too.

Hell is full of powerlines!

Amen!

Bob Crantz



"Scout" wrote in message
...
I'd like to hear opinions regarding supposed adverse health effects of a
close proximity to high tension wires.
I'm looking at a nice piece of land on the side of a mountain, about 200
feet from the lines. I'm inclined to think a cell phone is more dangerous.
I
know we have a few here who are knowledgeable in the field (no pun
intended).
Scout