dba

just seen a house and its near a pylon,about 100 yards

I looked into it and as usual there are no scientific links,yet there are clusters or Leukemia and the like near these things.How is that statistics and common sense would indicate that these things are dangerous,yet science can't "find a link"? Same with passive smoking, its bloogy obvious to a blind man and a galloping hoss that just because you don't hold the bloody ciggy doesn't mean you are safe,yet scientists haven't yet found a link to cancer,unless you smoke the damn thing yaself.

anyway,back on topic,anyone know the real deal with pylons? how far is safe?

LMRnav2

electricity pylon?? big high voltage metal ****er (doubtful) or a wee small wooden one?

Safe as houses, it's only electricity.......

SiDHEaD

Electro-magnetic radiation ??

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Mate. No no no IMO

I of course have no factual scientific evidence, but the magnetic fields these things produce is enough to put me right off.

It will induce a voltage in you as you pass through it, however 100 yards away obviously the concentration isn't like its in your back garden, but you will be subject to the fields 24/7, rather than occasionally as you pass under one driving around etc

You stand under a pylon on one of the corners at Castle Coombe, well I don't stand there.

I wouldn't buy it

Brendan Hughes

Maybe you'd like to buy it. But no-one else will want to buy it off you later.

JackClark

Some houses in my town have the feet of the pylons in their front garden :O

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Line the house with rubber, sould help suppress any induced EM field.

Seriously, it has to have some sort of effect, our blood system contains iron. Transformers use ferrite cores to transmit their EM field between the coils, so, in a similar way your body "has" to pick up something from it. What the effects are though is questionanble. But our nervous system depends on electrical signals, which controls every bodily function, so who knows of what effect it has!

On the plus side, I'm sure there is a way of indirectly tapping your own electricity by placing a large coil wrapped around a ferrite core near the high voltage power line

DocJock

Dave, you have a reply next door.

NotoriousREV

I live with an electricity substation at the bottom of my garden (fully enclosed brick building) and have been here for 7 years. No ill effects of any kind, but no way would I live near a pylon, just the humming noise they make when it's damp/raining would pee me right off.

Tiggs

the health issue is no big deal......BUT......you WILL NEVER sell the house!

DO NOT BUY IT!

ajm

I've heard some excuses for wrapping oneself in rubber, but this takes the biscuit!

Our blood contains salts of iron, with varying magnetic properties. Our brains also contain very small traces of magnetite which is thought to contribute to "sense" of direction. The direct effects of a magnetic field upon such ions is a non destructive one and is presently not possible to link directly with diseases such as cancer. An electro magnetic field shouldn't be confused with ionising radiation such as from radioactive sources which is known to cause cancer through direct damage to cells.

Most statisical data matching number of cancer cases to proximity to pylons has been contradicted by other similar studies showing absolutely no link so there really is no evidence to suggest harmful effects, especially since many houses actually tested were shown to have more electromagnetic field coming from their own domestic power supply rather than a nearby pylon! Also, many of the treehuggers protesting against pylons are the same ones who believe in the POSITIVE benefits of silly things like magnetic pillows and bracelets etc.!

I saw a study on TV recently with a load of people in a house next to which they erected a mobile phone mast. They told them it would be switched on the first week and off the second week, but in actual fact they did the opposite! True to form the people started complaining of headaches and all the other stereotypical intangible symptoms (apart from one who was obviously suffering from a cold) in the first week when in fact the mast wasn't even switched on!

The only semi-convincing argument I have seen to suggest pylons are harmful is that the magnetic field they produce *could* attract cancer causing particles present in the surrounding air from pollution and concentrate them into an area around the pylon.

The only reason this was ever looked into in the first place is that people don't like big buzzing eyesores near their houses, especially when they are carrying a source of energy that the same people clearly don't understand the physics behind. "Elastictrickery.... work of the devil!!! Not in my back yard!!!!"

Unfortunately, despite no scientific evidence to support it, this attitude alone is enough not to buy a house near a pylon because even if you are satisified it is safe, it will affect the price of the house when you come to sell, although I suppose you can mitigate that shortfall by offering a lower price to purchase it in the first place!

LMRnav2

why think about selling a house you haven't even bought???!!

And what about all the electricity that surrounds you every day? Computers, cars, other electrical goods in your house. You may work in a factory with loads of lathes and milling machines......loads of motors and EMF in there!

I might be wrong, but I thought electricity only develops a magnetic field when it is in a coil i.e. motor, genny, transformer. In straight a line of cable there will be might be no magnetics whatsoever.

Also, did you know, that when its not practicle to put a medium voltage (11kV, the wooden ones) line up, they stick it in the ground........oh no, there may be an electrical cable near your house that you never even knew about!

Tiggs

the fact that AJM's post above conatins the words BRAIN and CANCER and good enough reasons as to why you wont sell the house! (he also used other words, but quite frankly, they are off little extra use to joe bloggs!

ajm

Yeah, poor old Joe Bloggs.... he should have paid attention at school!

In fact I wonder why Joe Bloggs and the rest of the leukaemia witch hunt manage to get so hysterical about electricity pylons whilst pootling about in their "environmentally friendly" economical diesel cars as they belch out benzine, a chemical that actually HAS been proven to cause leukaemia!

NotoriousREV

Because sooner or later if yo do buy it, you may want to sell it. A house is an investment, the single most expensive thing you'll ever buy, probably. If you don't consider resale, you're asking for trouble.

ajm

There is a circular magnetic field around any wire carrying a current (d). Winding that wire into a coil effectively polarises the magnetic field because the circular fields around each wind (e) are all going in one direction on the inside of the coil, and all going the opposite direction on the outside of the coil (b).

Tiggs

lol!

you dont need diagrams!

me and wife went to look at a house years ago, did a drive by- looked great in the advert. Prked outside and noticed pylon wired (from a pylon a good few hundread yards away) passed over the next door garden. converstaion went like this:

ohhh, not keen on those wires

hmmmm.....dont ppl get sick near those

well they dont look to good if nothing else

no wonder the house is cheap

pity, its cool aprt from that.......so wheres the next one to look at?

that house was on the market for AGES and this was when houses where selling before the sign was up!

unless you only want to sell on to someone with A level physics dont buy it.

dba

cheers,we won't buy,too much dodgy science,no real facts just alarming statistics about cancer clusters,however,its the resale issue that concerns me most

I have heard of magnetite,they think its how birds can navigate.

ajm

The science is not dodgy, the statistics are!!!! However, I think your concerns regarding resale are valid!

dba

the science is dodgy in as much as it is inconsistent.As usual there is 'evidence' that living near Pylons is harmful,yet there is no 'scientific link'!

P1Fanatic

I saw some article in a paper a while back that had a load of strip lights stuck into the ground (when I say loads IIRC there were about 500) up to 100 meters from a pylon and the energy emitted from it powered all of the bulbs.

Simon.

Tim-Grove

I can near as damn it guarantee that if you live in an urban area that you will have an underground 11kv cable at the bottom of your drive. Not that it will prove to be any health concern (unless you decide to put a shovel through it), wouldn’t like to say the same about 275 and 400kv overhead lines never been to sure of those things.

Leslie

They always find evidence that says there is no proof to say that it might be harmful, but they never look for anything to say that is harmful. Neither do they find evidence to say that it is definitely not harmful because they never have any and don't want to commit themselves anyway.

They are risk takers as long as it is not their lives in danger. I would not wish to live close to very high voltage pylons. I think the electromagmetic radiation is not to be trusted.

Les

ajm

Ah, ok... I am making a distinction between science on one hand, as in what direct links can be proved or disproved and statistical studies on the other hand which find links between things that may exist either by direct, indirect or purely coincidental circumstances.

I do not consider the latter to be science because the loop hasn't been closed. The statistical findings (which differ between studies) has not been proved or disproved. Some studies say there is a statistical link between certain ailments and proximity to pylons whilst others say there is no link. The scientific aspect only supports the studies that say there is no link and whilst there is disagreement between the statisticians there can be no meaningful argument to suggest that the lack of scientific supporting evidence is wrong.

Some studies actually state that exposure to low levels of radiation can be beneficial!

I think it was a Bristol artist local to me who came up with this idea. Whilst it may be shocking for some to see a graphical display of the energy surrounding high voltage electricity wires there is still the assumption that because it is a striking display the energy must be harmful!

A few points:

1) The display in question was beneath pylons that are lower than normal (to keep them below the Bristol Airport flight path) and carry more lines than normal - this is very important because the range of electromagnetic fields follow an inverse square law..... twice the distance is 4 times less, ten times the distance is 100 times less.

2) Flourescent bulbs are extraordinarily sensitive to certain types of radiation. They will glow in the dark having been exposed to just normal daylight, they will also light up in the presence of UV.

3) The energy they are picking up is not in the form of harmful ionising particles like radio active radiation. By burying a tube in the ground beneath a high voltage cable you are creating a potential difference across the tube as it is in an electric field between the earth and x thousand volts above. Again, whilst the display is striking it occurs at a voltage typically much lower than the one you have between you and your car when you get a shock and a spark from your hand when you get out your car on a dry summers day!

What I am saying is that you need to be properly armed with facts before making a decision based on whether something may be harmful to you. The people (who want to boost their house value by getting a pylon knocked down ) will stand there swearing blind that they suffer health problems as a direct consequence of their proximity to a pylon, yet they do so with absolutely no credible argument to support their case.

They may well be right, but until evidence supports them in any way, shape or form, it has to be a lower ranking factor in the decision process than the financial or aesthetic considerations.

There are professors who will argue either with me or against me on this, but the risk of damage to their reputation on getting it wrong is much more likely than the risk of damage to your health imho!

This is an unusual post because I actually agree with your decision not to buy the house, but only because it has been blighted by misinformation!

paulr

why worry about selling,if the scare stories are true you'll probably die anyway.

ajm

Paul, I can't help feeling your comments, whilst being very welcome, have come in a little late in the thread!

ajm

Look up symptoms for anxiety.... and delight yourself!

lol!

ProperCharlie

apparently some people are worried that microwaves emitted by wireless routers are frying our brains. I can still get a good connection from mine whilst sitting at the end of the garden.

bye for now.

<switches off router>