Annals of conflicting results: looking back on electromagnetic field research

Few environmental health issues are as contentious as the question of whether exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from power lines increases cancer risk. Among the many actors in this controversy, epidemiologists have played the leading role in raising the question and motivating research. Epidemiologic studies of the effects of exposure to power-line EMFs include the investigation by Dr. Gilles Thériault and colleagues into incidence rates of cancer among electric-utility workers in Quebec, Ontario and France. With the development of personal dosimeters to measure exposure to electric, magnetic and pulsed EMFs, occupational studies in the 1990s have made an important methodologic advance. But, as Thériault explains, improvements in assessing exposure have not yet translated into clear and consistent findings.