Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of potential health risks arising from (a) above-ground and (b) underground electricity cables which connect onshore windfarms to sub-stations.

Michael Fallon

Public Health England (PHE) is advisor on potential health risks from above ground or underground electricity cables. Government policy, based on advice from PHE, is that the 1998 International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines on public exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) are applied in terms of the 1999 EU Council Recommendation on limiting exposure of the general public (1999/519/EC). PHE remains the focus of UK expertise in such matters and keeps the scientific evidence relevant to EMF exposures under review.