Received an email from UK from a consulting engineer, KC Tang, raising questions about the safety of the high tension electrical tower in Rawang, which had been in the news lately over the protest by the affected residents.
The email reads:
I came across this article in Sinchew online and thought the comments by Tang See Hang saying Tenaga quoted that the high powered line only affects people ‘directly’ under the cables but not outside are so misleading.
I am a consulting engineer (originally from Malaysia) working in London (www.idac.co.uk) and I do a lot of engineering simulations. I did a project for National Grid here a while back to investigate the current induced in a human body near some transmission lines and the electromagnetic fields is more widespread than the direct line between the cable and the ground. There is clear guidance over here for the safe, allowable induced current in the body of occupational workers and public (yes there are certainly some induced current when you are exposed to the electromagnetic fields) and the 10 feet he quoted as not having any adverse effects is VERY, VERY alarming and wrong. Are there any guidelines in Malaysia for this sort of installation?
Scientists have mixed reaction to this issue but there is a report showing evidence that electromagnetic fields may be linked to cancer hence the existence of straight guidelines in developed countries. There are a lot of information you can obtain from this website http://www.emfs.info/issue_NRPBlimits.asp.
The Rawang high-tension electricity tower controversy had drawn further protests, including school children, as reported in Malaysiakini yesterday:
Tower…ing protest in Rawang draws 500
Bede Hong
Aug 23, 07 7:24pmAbout 500 people, comprising some 100 school children and 400 adults, protested the construction of a high tension electrical tower in Rawang New Village today, fearful that its power transmission lines would be detrimental to their health.
The tower, adjacent to SJK(C) Sun Yuk, is part of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)’s upgrade plans that were mooted following major blackouts in the Klang Valley in 2005. The new power lines will carry 240KV from its current 33KV.
Villagers gathered at the school compound today as piling construction began. The school children, who were attending holiday tutoring, participated after class.
“Protest! Protest! Protest!” chanted the children, waving their arms as the adults stood by. They carried placards that read “Chinese ministers: Pay attention to the grievances of villagers and students” and “Education Ministry: Please be concerned with the health of teachers and students.”
Half a dozen enforcement officers monitored from the construction site.
The tower was first proposed in 2005. A TNB relocation compensation plan for 51 families was rejected this year.
Residents voiced concern over the electro magnetic field (EMF) generated by the power lines.
“We are afraid of the ill-effects of having power cables right over the heads of villagers. We want the tower to be relocated to somewhere more isolated,” SJK(C) Sun Yuk board of directors chairperson Lee Foo Wang told a press conference at the school.
“This is merely a question of whether money or lives are more important,” he said.
Further talks possible
Lee added that the school faces a potential “exodus” of students and teachers.
“We cannot support anything that would harm the children. We don’t want to risk that,” said the school’s Parents Teachers Association president Lim Siew Wah.
Meanwhile, Selayang assemblyperson and state ex-co Tang See Hang said the proposal to relocate the tower was rejected by TNB but did not rule out further negotiations.
Villagers have filed a court injunction which will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court next Tuesday. Tang proposed the village’s action committee meet up with Minister of Energy, Water and Telecommunication Dr Lim Keng Yaik to further negotiate.
“I’m a responsible state assemblyperson. I have tried my best, but TNB has rejected the proposal. TNB is also angry at me for delaying the project for two years. Don’t blame MCA for not helping. It is not fair to me,” he told a press conference at the Gombak district office today.
He said he was told by TNB that relocating the power lines would cost an additional RM100 million.
On Monday, four villagers were arrested following a scuffle with TNB workers at the construction site. Over 150 villagers were involved in that protest.
Although no medical study has proven a conclusive link, many health experts believe that long term exposure to EMFs causes nausea, headaches and in some, even leukemia.
Tang see hang should back up his claims that high-tension electricity does not affect people nearby by moving in to a house next to the Rawang New Village high tension electrical tower.
If you had worked long enough in the medical corp of the previous CEB, LLN and now TNB you will have seen enough women who mysteriously have breast cancer, men with brain tumours and leukemias all because their living quarters were close to power stations or the grid……..but times have changed and electromagnetic fields may indeed be reduced because of better technology……but absolutely safe…..the views are mixed even with the best of medical experts……so what do you do…..you always err on the safe side……..you build them far away from densely populated areas…….because you never know 25 years later if your child or grandchild will be coming down with Immune thrombocytopenic purpura or worse……..developers who con house buyers into saying that the grid now is absolutely safe need only visit the previous CEB quarters at Bukit Badak, Klang and ask each household of family members having had or died of cancer or blood dyscrasias………their answers may shock you………..welcome to the unseen world of Malaysian healthcare…..
is it possible for anyone to sue the b*stard to such an irresponsible statement? LKY still dares to open his mouth to say that TNB is angry at him for delaying the project for 2 years? How about all the people in Rawang who is angry at TNB and LKY for being so irresponsible to the people’s health? what f-ing bull crap is his statement?
Can I say that a large number of people are angry that LKY is still being such an idiotic leech and not dead yet then I proceed on to slowly torture him to death just like how the electromagnetic fields slowly kill the people in Rawang?
Just because the majority there is Chinese so if they die a slow death it is still OK? I am seriously getting more convinced that the people from UMNO and MCA should all just drop dead for the sake of the nation and the people.
Tang See HAng sounds like waiting for toilet bowl.
TNB rm100mil what’s that to you. Sure or not it costs u guys that much? DOnt inflate the price. Go ask Badawi to help la. Gv u guys a “soft loan”. How can Pak Lah be so cold hearted and not help out TNB to relocate but can gv soft loan here n there.
My heart wrenched when I watched this old man begging and kneeling in front of this assemblyman to do something. See how typical it is. We have to beg for symphathy. That is not equal footing. So don’t lie. [deleted] We don’t seem to have some very bright articulate planners around who know how to develop the land and at the same time make people happy. We are stuck with some officers who only follow orders. 50 years and you call that development.
“I’m a responsible state assemblyperson. I have tried my best, but TNB has rejected the proposal. TNB is also angry at me for delaying the project for two years. Don’t blame MCA for not helping. It is not fair to me,†he told a press conference at the Gombak district office today.
No! You are not a responsible assemblymen. You haven’t try your best. So what TNB is angry with you, do you wsnt to kill 100 school childrens just because the project is delayed for two years and TNB us angry with you? Aren’t you are fighting for the villagers and you should be responsible and be fair for them because they voted for you to take care of them? You want fairness, quit politics! Ladies and gentlemen, this is MCA politician for you!
Mana itu Health Minister……..selaloooo cerita pasal patient safety, undang-undang, ISO, accreditation…….mana dia…….suruh dia turun padang…….semua macam Kong Choy …kalau kes susah, songlap duit ..mau cabut lari saja………tangkap ikan bilis pandai…….ini satu kampong mau mati tak lama lagi hidung pun takda nampak……….
.
Evidence that Electromagnetic fields from high
voltage powerlines and in buildings, are
hazardous to human health, especially to young
children
Dr Neil Cherry
Environmental Management and Design Division
Lincoln University
http://www.bcuc.com/Documents/Proceedings/2005/DOC_9524_C1-11_KAROW%20Evidence%20No.%205.pdf
.
.
The Effects of Electromagnetic Fields From Power Lines on Avian Reproductive Biology and Physiology: A Review
Authors: Kim J. Fernie a; S. James Reynolds b
Affiliations: a Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
b School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Abstract
Electrical power lines are ubiquitous in the developed world and in urban areas of the developing world. All electrical currents, including those running through power lines, generate electric and magnetic fields (EMFs). Electrical power lines, towers, and distribution poles are used by birds for perching, hunting, and nesting. Therefore, many bird species, like humans, are exposed to EMFs throughout their lives. EMFs have been implicated in adversely affecting multiple facets of human health, including increasing the risks of life-threatening illnesses such as leukemia, brain cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, clinical depression, suicide, and Alzheimer’s disease. A great deal of research and controversy exists as to whether or not exposure to EMFs affects the cellular, endocrine, immune, and reproductive systems of vertebrates.
Laboratory work has used mice, rats, and chickens as models for this EMF research in an effort to understand better the possible IMPLICATION of EMF exposure for humans.
However, EMF exposure of wild birds may also provide insight into the impacts of EMFs on human health. This review focuses on research examining the effects of EMFs on birds; most studies indicate that EMF exposure of birds generally changes, but not always consistently in effect or in direction, their behavior, reproductive success, growth and development, physiology and endocrinology, and oxidative stress under EMF conditions. Some of this work has involved birds under aviary conditions, while other research has focused on free-ranging birds exposed to EMFs. Finally, a number of future research directions are discussed that may help to provide a better understanding of EMF effects on vertebrate health and conservation.
.
.
Bridlewood Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) Information Service
Low Frequency, High Tension
By Marjean Curtis
Article courtesy of AlterNet
November 1998
On Christmas Eve of 1996, Larry Stankavich and his wife, Susan, looked out the dining room window of their Duanesburg, New York home. Rising in the southwest, just barely visible above the 50-foot pines that border their property, was a large network of crisscrossing steel beams. The emerging monolith looked dreadfully out of place in the rural hills of Duanesburg. It would take Larry and Susan close to a month to discover that this unexpected gift had come from Cellular One of Albany, New York. Even the town supervisor claimed to know nothing about it. On December 31st, before it was even completed, the tower was fitted with a microwave dish and activated to carry analog cellular phone signals. This enormous steeple of sorts would then rise another 75 feet until it reached its full stature of 250 feet in February of 1997. And it was later that month that the 15 households within 1400 feet of the tower began to suspect that Cellular One had done more than run roughshod over the aesthetics of their bucolic neighborhood.
First Larry noticed pressure in his head. Not prone to headaches, he suddenly began experiencing a regular and intense pain that started at the base of his skull and spread from ear to ear. He noticed a grittiness in his eyes every time he washed his face. At first he didn’t suspect that the radiation beaming toward his home might have something to do with his sudden and unusual complaints. When Susan started having the same strange headaches, they didn’t know what to think. Then one evening Susan, who was well past menopause, had a hot flash to beat all hot flashes. Her face flushed red, started tingling, and felt like it was on fire. Susan ran to Larry who was in the kitchen. They looked at each other dumbfounded and horrified. Larry’s face too was crimson and so hot that it hurt. Something was very wrong.
Initial doctor’s visits turned up nothing out of the ordinary. However, Larry began noticing that he felt better whenever he left the house to manage the fencing business that he started in 1972. Susan, however, who did clerical work for the business from home, was experiencing no relief. New complaints began to surface. They both started having trouble sleeping, and Susan’s usually normal blood pressure began to soar. At 3 a.m. on February 16, her blood pressure rose to 190/110 and was accompanied by frightening heart palpitations. Larry drove Susan far from the tower until her blood pressure returned to normal around 6 in the morning. Susan and Larry felt awful, and by this time they suspected that the Cellular One installation might be to blame. A meeting with neighbors living within the shadow of the giant tower substantiated their suspicion — many of them were suffering with the same symptoms.
Twenty-one months later, it’s even worse. The Stankaviches and their neighbors complain of hearing high-pitched sounds that are always followed by waves of extreme nausea. Fatigue and dizziness have become a matter of course, and now, hearing loss and joint pain, especially in the knees, are plaguing many residents. The Stankaviches can no longer use the top story of their home where their symptoms become more pronounced. Some neighbors have actually moved into their cellars. Two homes have already been sold at a loss, and one more is on the market. The Stankaviches, however, are determined not to be driven out. Larry built their home 27 years ago and says they can never replace it. They’re going to fight. But so far, it looks like a losing battle — one in which they’re losing their health, peace of mind, and their entire savings of $20,000.
While stories like the Stankaviches’ seem extreme now, they could become more and more common as the number of towers and antennae increase. And increase they will. The industry estimates that there are 75,000 towers currently in place and by the year 2000, there will need to be 100,000 for a full build-out. That’s a conservative estimate, since PCS (personal communication systems) towers need to be placed much closer than the old analog towers. A full build-out of the PCS system, with six carriers each, would put 100,000 new towers in California alone.
This massive buildup may give the population at large the freedom of wireless devices and eye-popping digital TV, but there will be more of us at ground zero who will pay the price of the swift and, some say, careless deployment of towers and antennae. To put the brakes on this rampant proliferation, citizen groups are forming across the country to fight or redirect installations as they affect their neighborhoods. Two of the loudest battles are raging in Golden, Colorado and San Francisco, California where citizens are fighting the addition of digital TV antennae to existing structures.
……………….for more goto
http://www.feb.se/Bridlewood/LOWFREQ.HTM
.
The link to cancer is not new.
If my memory serves me well, I remember a case in the U.K. not too long ago when whole population had to be re-located as there was evidence of cancer (blood) caused by the electromagnetic field – and the court awarded vast sums in compensation for the suffering of residents in the area who were told that it was safe.
What has become this of country? The powers that be are corrupted absolutely.
Human’s life, people’s welfare are of no concern to the ruling parties, the minister are playing dumb?
Some times we look at the high tension cables overhead, we do not need experts to tell us it is a potential serious health hazard? Common knowledge and common sense will tell any Tom Dick & Harry!
Where is the EIA report supposed to be carried and approved by the DOE? None was done? How can that be?
Public safety and health are seriously at stake, and yet no EIA studies being conducted, no EIA approval for building the huge high tension towers for high tension cables?
Where is the minister in charge of TNB? The ex president of Gerakan seems to be mum!
yeah no effect to human health? ask the TNB director to build a house and ask him to live near the electrical tower for 1 year. or ask the chinese minister children/grandchildren to study in the school for 1 year. see if they are willing to rake any action about it?
shit. what happen to my country? phark lar. i wept the tears for the rakyat for voting you as their leader.
because these are chinese i guess. So the BN and UMNO never bothered and LKY has to wag if that was demanded by his boss.
LKY is a medical doctor & the Minister in charge of TNB operations and licensing.
Why he is not acting to stop all these high tension transmission lines passing right over the exisitng houses in the Chinese new village?
There should be a) Environment Impact Assessment and b) Social Impact Assessment studies and approval or disapproval before such project can or cannot proceed.
None of these technical studies were conducted, why?
What are the technical Departments, Minister and the Ministry doing? Sleeping on the job?
Why the Minister was so outspoken and adamant on the ‘Wee Meng Chee’s case’ but dumb here on this huge and serious issue to the people?
Non issue to him, the Minister in Charge of power and TNB?
That is very funny, because he is a medical doctor he should know better than others, the effects of electromagnetic fields induced by the high tension transmission cable?
When we see this happening in front of our eyes, we feel sickening, and sorry for the person who is in charge.
there is cetain buffer zone required from the national grid set by MINT. few hundred feet, i can’t remember the exact figure, maybe some one can confirm this from MINT.
Both LKY and Chua Soi Lek are now evil politicians……not doctors……they have already be disowned by the medical profession………..