NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
, 2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE, NW,WASHINGTON, D.C.20418
The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
This report was prepared under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC01-94CE34101 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Limited number of copies available from
Board on Radiation Effects Research
Commission on Life Sciences
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20418
Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES COMPLETED UNDER THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992
CHARLES P. BEAN (Chairman),
School of Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
FRED M. DIETRICH,
Electric Research and Management Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
MAURICE S. FOX,
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
WALTER R. ROGERS,
Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
JAN A. J. STOLWIJK,
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
JERRY R. WILLIAMS,
The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Baltimore, Maryland
National Research Council Staff
LARRY H. TOBUREN, Study Director
JOHN D. ZIMBRICK, Director,
Board on Radiation Effects Research
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Staff Assistant
LARA ADAMO, Project Assistant until July 14, 1995
KATE KELLY, Editor
SPONSOR’S PROJECT OFFICER
Imre Gyuk,
U.S. Department of Energy
BOARD ON RADIATION EFFECTS RESEARCH
WARREN K. SINCLAIR (Chairman),
National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements (ret.), Bethesda, Maryland
MAUREEN M. HENDERSON,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, Seattle
LEONARD S. LERMAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
JOHN B. LITTLE,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLIAM J. SHULL,
University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
THOMAS S. TENFORDE,
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Washington
SUSAN S. WALLACE,
University of Vermont, Burlington
H. RODNEY WITHERS,
UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
National Research Council Staff
JOHN D. ZIMBRICK, Director
CHARLES W. EDINGTON, RERF Program Director, until March, 1995
EVAN B. DOUPLE, Senior Program Officer
LARRY H. TOBUREN, Senior Program Officer
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Staff Assistant
CATHERINE S. BERKLEY, Administrative Associate
LARA ADAMO, Project Assistant until July 14, 1995
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
THOMAS D. POLLARD (Chairman),
Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, DC
JOHN C. BAILAR, III,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
J. MICHAEL BISHOP,
University of California Medical Center, San Francisco
JOHN E. BURRIS,
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
MICHAEL T. CLEGG,
University of California, Riverside
GLENN A. CROSBY,
Washington State University, Pullman
URSULA W. GOODENOUGH,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
SUSAN E. LEEMAN,
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
RICHARD E. LENSKI,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
THOMAS E. LOVEJOY,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
DONALD R. MATTISON,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
JOSEPH E. MURRAY,
Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts
EMIL A. PFITZER,
Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Inc., Hackensack, New Jersey
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
HENRY C. PITOT, III,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
HAROLD M. SCHMECK, JR.,
Armonk, New York
CARLA J. SHATZ,
University of California, Berkeley
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
National Research Council Staff
Paul Gilman, Executive Director
Alvin L. Lazen, Associate Executive Director
Solveig M. Padilla, Administrative Assistant
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Harold Liebowitz is the president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an advisor to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Harold Liebowitz are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
PREFACE
Public concern over the possible health effects of exposure to low-intensity, 60-Hertz (Hz) electric and magnetic fields (EMF) continues to be a driving force in setting the research agendas for government and private organizations. This concern led to a number of workshops held from 1990 through 1992, with participation of representatives of the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Electric Power Research Institute, public utilities, state governments, scientists, and others. The workshops were designed to elicit strategies for research on the biologic effects of EMF exposure and various methods for disseminating of research findings to the public were considered. These workshops provided the basic framework for establishment of an enhanced national program in EMF research that was ultimately authorized by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486).
Under Item 303, Section 2118, the act outlined a national program involving a partnership between government and industry to determine whether exposure to 60-Hz EMF produced by the generation, transmission, and use of electric energy affects human health; to carry out research, development, and demonstration of technologies that would mitigate any adverse human health effects; and to provide for dissemination of information related to possible human health effects of EMF exposure. The program provides for the collection, compilation, publication, and dissemination of information on the types and extent of human health effects that might be induced by EMF exposure; the results of research on mechanisms of interaction of EMF and their relationship to possible human health effects; and research, development, and demonstration of technologies to improve measurement, characterization, and management of exposure. The legislation included establishment of a National EMF Interagency Committee (IAC) and a National EMF Advisory Committee (NEMFAC) to guide the effort. The legislation also directed the secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the research activities completed under the program and to periodically report its finding to IAC and NEMFAC.
CHARGE TO THE COMMITTEE
To be responsive to the legislation described above, and at DOE’s request, the National Research Council’s (NRC) Board on Radiation Effects Research (BRER) established a committee of eminent scientists to aid in its review of the EMF research activities completed under the Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination (EMF-RAPID) program authorized by the National Energy Policy Act. The NRC committee was asked to review the EMF program adopted by DOE and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), as well as research strategies suggested by other federal and nonfederal groups, including the NRC Committee on the Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Biologic Systems, which was initiated in 1992. Within the framework of this knowledge, the committee was asked to do the following:
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Review and evaluate the scientific and technical content of projects completed under the EMF-RAPID program. The results of this review, with implications of the effect and significance of the work in addressing the issues defined in the national EMF research plan, are to be reported to DOE, IAC, and NEMFAC.
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Review continuing research activities for scientific content and suitability to meet the goals of the EMF-RAPID plan. Continuing projects will be given only a brief review with regard to content and direction, based on a brief statement of scope, goals, and progress submitted to the committee using a format developed specifically for that purpose, to assess their potential to fulfill the goals of the national program.
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Recommend modifications to the EMF-RAPID program, as appropriate, based on information the committee acquires concerning new research findings not available when the national research agenda was developed, from briefings the committee might request, and from analysis of research strategies developed by other groups.
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Assess the scientific and technical content, and make recommendations as deemed necessary, for activities initiated under the EMF-RAPID agenda to promote the transfer of information derived from research projects.
The results of the NRC committee review and evaluations are to be reported to the DOE, IAC, and NEMFAC annually. At the conclusion of the EMF-RAPID program specified by the National Energy Policy Act (the legislation has a sunset provision that all authority under the law expires December 31, 1997), the NRC will submit a final report to DOE, IAC, and NEMFAC with an assessment of the research activities conducted under the act.
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
To carry out its charge, BRER appointed a committee of scientists, experienced in EMF measurement and dosimetry, molecular and cellular biology, tissue and animal biology, biophysics, mechanisms of cancer induction, and behavior, to provide a thorough review of the research strategy and of the research completed under the national program. Two members of this NRC review committee under the EMF-RAPID program are also members of the NRC Committee on the Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Biologic Systems which was charged with the review of the research literature relating to possible adverse health effects. They are, therefore, intimately familiar with the literature on EMF effects. This study is conducted under the general guidance of the Board on Radiation Effects Research and the Commission on Life Sciences of the National Research Council.
As of July 1995, the committee has had access to documents provided by DOE and NIEHS that describe the EMF-RAPID program, brief descriptions of the projects initiated in 1994 under the DOE and NIEHS portion of the EMF-RAPID program, and the information brochure completed in January 1995 as a project funded under the EMF-RAPID program.
This report is organized to provide a brief discussion of the status of research relating to the biologic effects of EMF exposure, a review of the research strategy adopted by the EMF-RAPID program, a discussion of the work initiated under the EMF-RAPID program, and a review of the one project that has been completed under the EMF-RAPID program.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To respond to its charge, the Committee to Review the Research Activities Completed Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) solicited and received information from numerous individuals and organizations. The committee would like especially to thank representatives of DOE and NIEHS who attended the first committee meeting to provide information on the EMF-RAPID program and to offer their expectations for scientific knowledge to be obtained from the research funded by it. In addition, information was provided to the committee on EMF research activities that are supported by the agencies’ core research funds, but that are independent of the EMF-RAPID program. Specifically, appreciation is expressed to Imre Gyuk and Lynne Gillette of DOE for describing the DOE portion of the EMF-RAPID program in engineering and information dissemination, respectively, and to Daniel VanderMeer of NIEHS for discussing health-related studies supported by the institute’s component of the EMF-RAPID program. These persons also provided useful information on EMF studies conducted by their agencies outside of the EMF-RAPID program. We also thank Steve Lindenberg of the Electric Power Research Institute for describing the EMF research program conducted by that organization. We benefited from a presentation by Robert Brewer of DOE, a member of IAC, who discussed the responsibilities of that committee, the congressional reports required of that committee, and the expectations of contributions the NRC report will make to the EMF-RAPID program. These presentations, as well as continued support by means of discussions, written project descriptions, and other programmatic information, have been invaluable to the operation of this NRC committee.
The committee is also deeply appreciative of the work of T.S. Tenforde, Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, the member of the Board on Radiation Effects Research who served as liaison to this committee, to Larry Toburen, Study director, and John Zimbrick, Director of BRER, for their help in organizing the study, and for the assistance of Doris Taylor and Lara Adamo in the preparation of this report.
Charles P. Bean
Chairman