Health: Panic Over Power Lines

Are the waves from electrical wires and appliances harmful?

Like the Land of Oz, technology has good and bad witches. The bomb is a bad witch, microsurgery a good one. Not so long ago, electricity was firmly in the benign category. After all, it delivers energy with great reliability and little expense. So essential has electricity become that more than 2 million miles of power lines, literally huge extension cords, criss-cross the U.S. But nowadays many Americans are increasingly fearful that the electric and magnetic fields generated by such overhead cables pose a serious threat to human health, causing everything from learning disorders to cancer.

Alarm has been growing for...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!