Children's leukeamia risk 'not heightened by power lines'

Living near power lines during early life does not mean that children have an increased chance of developing leukeamia, according to a new study. Researchers from the Childhood Cancer Research Group at the University of Oxford found that there was no increase in the likelihood of developing childhood leukemia the closer people live to power lines.

Published in the 'British Journal of Cancer', the study found that any children born since 1990 are not exposed to an increase chance of developing the cancer if their mother lived close to power lines. The research was in response to a previous study that suggested living within close proximity to overhead power lines increased the likelihood of childhood leukeamia. 

The new research looked at almost 16,500 children in the UK that had been diagnosed with leukeamia between 1962 and 2008. In comparison, the previous research had looked at children that had been diagnosed between 1962 and 1995, suggesting that those born within 600 metres had increased chances of diagnosis with the disease.

It has now been suggested that children born after 1980 are not subject to heightened risk of leukeamia, even if they are born within a kilometre of overhead power lines. This suggests that the power lines have no biological effect on children in relation to leukeamia diagnosis.

According to the researchers, the previous study's results could be dues to changes in the characteristics of those living in close proximity at the time. They could also be due to a problems with the study - such as inaccurate data - or chance.

Kathryn Bunch, lead author of the study, said: "It's very encouraging to see that in recent decades there has been no increased risk of leukaemia among children born near overhead power lines.

"More research is needed to determine precisely why previous evidence suggested a risk prior to 1980, but parents can be reassured from the findings of this study that overhead power lines don't increase their child's risk of leukaemia."