Electromagnetic Field Measurements Generate Concern at School : Environment: Parents and educators are fearful that exposure increases the risk of cancer among children. Scientific evidence is inconclusive.

LAKE HUGHES —  Lacking definitive evidence on a suspected link between electromagnetic fields and cancer, the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District in the fall may reopen a classroom where high EMF levels were recently detected.

Last week, the district reassigned a second-grade class to the library for the rest of the school year after high EMF levels were found in portions of the room. The room is adjacent to a transformer that supplies power to the campus.

Supt. Michael Harris said the western Antelope Valley district may install false walls over the summer in the recently abandoned classroom. The walls would help block access to the two corners where high EMF levels were detected. It would then once again be used as a classroom or possibly as the school library.

If the one-school district does decide to use the room to house students, it will probably face a battle.

Cindy Wulf, mother of two students at the school, said, “It’s not going to happen as far as we’re concerned. If it was my kid, I wouldn’t let him stay in that classroom. It can’t be good for you.”

EMFs are present whenever an electric current passes through a wire. Some studies have shown a connection between childhood cancers and exposure to EMFs.

“The teachers and parents are adamant about not having kids in that room next year,” said Kari Christensen, the second-grade teacher assigned to the room. “They shouldn’t put people at risk.”

It was Christensen who first suspected there was a problem in the classroom.

During the winter holiday the school consolidated and upgraded its electrical system. New electrical equipment was located outside Christensen’s classroom. Two conduits, including one about six inches in diameter, were installed to carry electrical wires from the equipment, up the exterior wall, across the roof and finally to a circuit panel inside the classroom.

Shortly after the district started using the new electrical supply in early January, Christensen discovered that some metal items in her room, including loose nuts and bolts and scissors, had become magnetized.

A Southern California Edison engineer measured the EMF in Christensen’s room in April. He found EMF levels as high as 29 milligauss, although parents who used an Edison gauss meter this month said they recorded counts of 300 milligauss.

While there is no agreement on what magnetic field exposure level, if any, poses a health risk, some experts have said the safe level is as low as 1 milligauss, the level that would be detected at a distance of one foot from a toaster that is in use. EMF levels drop off quickly with distance from their source.

According to the Edison report, the highest EMF counts in Christensen’s room were measured in the corner adjacent to the outdoor electrical boxes and the corner where the two metal conduits are located.

After growing concern, the second-grade class of more than 30 students was moved into the library until June 11, the end of the school year.

The multitude of studies that have been done to determine whether a link exists between EMF exposure and cancer have failed to provide a clear answer. The findings of three of the most recent studies, in order of their release, were:

* A UC Berkeley physicist found no link between an increased risk of childhood cancer and exposure to electric transmission lines and appliances.

* Two Swedish studies found children living near power lines were as much as four times as likely to develop leukemia or brain cancer.

* A UCLA and Southern California Edison study found no significant difference in the incidence of cancer among the public and electrical utility workers exposed on the job to strong EMF fields.

Harris said it’s been difficult for the district to know how to react to the high EMF levels because there are no guidelines to follow.

“One of the problems is there’s not anybody out there who’s going to tell you what’s safe and what isn’t,” Harris said.

No federal or California agencies have adopted regulations on EMF exposure.

The state Department of Education has a policy concerning the distance between new school sites and high-voltage power lines and is considering adopting the guidelines as regulation.

A spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said understanding the effects of EMF exposure is a high priority for the agency.

“We’re in the process of still trying to understand,” said EPA spokesman Bill Glenn. “There are no regulations as to what’s a safe level. We don’t know that yet.”

The Public Utilities Commission continues to investigate whether there are health effects from EMF exposure, and the state Department of Health Services has not set exposure standards.

Asked if it was appropriate to use the room with the high EMF level to house students, school district board members said they are relying on the guidance of the superintendent.

Trustee Michael Taylor said as long as the students are kept away from the EMF sources it would be acceptable for them to use the classroom.

“If my child was in that class. . . I wouldn’t have a problem with it,” he said.

Trustee Lola Skelton Mantooth said the board’s top concern is the safety of the children.

Parent Kimber Carrisalez said, “I would think that even the smallest possibility of any danger or risk would be too much danger or risk.”

Denise Henderson, area manager for Southern California Edison, said as discussion continues among Lake Hughes School teachers, parents and administrators, it has to be remembered that a determination has yet to be made on whether EMF is harmful. “All we can do is measure it.”

She added: “One thing that’s important to avoid is hysteria. It’s important to be prudent. We don’t know what the effects are or might be. The thing I think about, people in the utility industry think about, when the jury is still out you have to be skeptical about taking certain steps and maybe making the situation worse.

“The important thing is to educate people,” Henderson said. “As long as we choose to use electricity we will be exposing ourselves to magnetic fields.”