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Power lines and the geomagnetic field
Author(s) -
Liboff Abraham R.,
McLeod Bruce R.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.2250160404
Subject(s) - earth's magnetic field , magnetic field , line (geometry) , physics , field line , power (physics) , computational physics , geophysics , geodesy , mathematics , geology , geometry , quantum mechanics
The metric of prime interest in power line epidemiological studies has been AC magnetic intensity. To consider also possible geomagnetic involvement, the orientation of a long straight power line is examined relative to a uniform geomagnetic field (GMF) with dip angle α. An expression is derived for the component of the total GMF that is parallel, at an elevation β, to the circuital magnetic field that surrounds the line. This component is a function of the angles α and β, the total geomagnetic intensity B T , and the angle θ between the axis of the power line and magnetic north. Plotting these geomagnetic parameters for known leukemia residences allows one to test for possible ion cyclotron resonance or other GMF interactions. This approach, in principle, is an easy addition to existing or planned studies, because residential access is not required to obtain local values for α, β, θ, and B T . We recommend including these parameters in the design of epidemiological studies examining power line fields and childhood leukemia. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.