Currents of fear

1^st May 2005

Given his ratings, only a tiny handful of you probably saw Paul Holmes in his new slot on Prime a few weeks back, talking to Don Maisch, described as an Australian expert on the health effects of magnetic fields. More precisely, he’s doing a PhD in the Arts Faculty of Wollongong University on changes in the health status of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients following removal of excessive 50 Hz magnetic field exposure.

His performance on Holmes’ show had been quite impressive, as he walked up the driveway of a West Auckland house with a little black meter, reading off figures to the reporter, who oohed and tutted dutifully. Inside the house, which was directly under high-tension power lines, the magnetic field was up to 35milliGauss. This is about as high as magnetic fields in a human dwelling would ever get.

What no one thought to mention was that the Earth’s background magnetic field is about 500mG. The theory is that the alternating (50 Hz) fields generated by electric wires have some effect that the static field of the Earth doesn’t produce, but the evidence on this is contradictory to say the least. After 25 years of research, the most that can be said is that several studies have shown a slight positive correlation between magnetic field strength and incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children - enough to raise the incidence from a background rate of three per 100,000 up to about six per 100,000.

Whether the fields cause the leukaemias is another matter entirely. Some of the most rigorous studies have shown no such effect, and it is easy to think of possible confounding factors - power lines are more prevalent in areas dominated by industry and low-cost housing, and there may be many other things affecting the health of residents in such places. Tests on animals exposed to alternating fields of up to 20,000mG for more than a year have shown no increase in leukaemia rates.

The day after the Holmes programme I was drinking a coffee at a cafe in Hamilton when protesters against Transpower’s proposed 400kV transmission line marched past. I have some sympathy for their stance, and believe that Transpower hasn’t managed this process effectively. There are property rights issues, aesthetic values and commercial considerations which to date have not been properly addressed. There may be better ways to supply this country’s energy needs, through conservation, solar water heating and dispersed generating capacity. Alleged health risks, however, do not rate. This issue has been playing out overseas for decades and many millions of dollars has been spent researching health effects, with little result. In the US the total cost of the power line scare, including relocating lines and loss of property values was estimated by the White House Science Office to be over US$25 billion. Decisions about our energy future should not be based on claimed health effects that remain highly dubious.

Annette Taylor

Communicating the nature of science: Evolution as an exemplar

Alison Campbell - 1 May 2005

Food irradiation causes cancer, and the sky is falling

Raymond Richards - 1 May 2005

The Green Party does not have a good record when it comes to scepticism. In 2002, party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons was an ungracious winner of our bent spoon award for her support of "etheralised cosmic-astral influences" as a means of eradicating possums.

Forum

1 May 2005

It is with sadness that I see that the Skeptic is still accepting articles and letters with political bias. I would like to spend much of this letter countering some of Owen McShane's arguments from his article "Why are we crying into our beer?", but I see we are still arguing in the pages of our magazine about science. It would be really nice if Jim Ring or C Morris could explain to me and I'm sure others who are puzzled by this whole affair, as to what legitimate arguments between legitimate scientists have to do with scepticism.

Hokum Locum

John Welch - 1 May 2005

Now that Terri Schiavo has been allowed to die peacefully there is an opportunity to reflect on the matter free from the hysteria and religious arguments advanced as an excuse to maintain her in a vegetative state. When discussing the ethics of the situation with a local surgeon he commented that the main problem was that the feeding tube should never have been inserted in the first place. A feeding tube is surgically inserted into the stomach through a hole in the abdominal wall. Once such medical interventions have been made it is very hard to reverse them. In this case the debate appears to have been hijacked by Catholic pressure groups.

Newsfront

David Riddell - 1 May 2005

The Scottish border city of Carlisle says a stone artwork commissioned to mark the millennium has brought floods, pestilence and sporting humiliation, but an unlikely white knight is riding to their rescue (Dominion Post, 10 March). The Cursing Stone is a 14-tonne granite rock inscribed with an ancient curse against robbers, but since it was put in a city museum in 2001 the region has been plagued by foot and mouth disease, a devastating flood and factory closures. Perhaps worst of all, the Carlisle United soccer team has dropped a division.

Noah's ark tests negative

Julia Mahoney - 1 May 2005

A New Zealander's quest to find Noah's Ark has suffered a double blow, with two samples he gathered in Turkey turning out to be rock, not petrified timber. Ross Patterson delivered the samples to crown research institute Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) in Wellington. Senior geologist Hamish Campbell, who examined the samples, said they were not wood or fossil material, but volcanic rock. One of the samples had "a lovely platey fabric" and Dr Campbell said he could see why Mr Patterson thought they might be fossil wood. "I'm all for somebody chasing something like this - it makes life interesting. GNS offers a service and we are very happy to sample rock in this way."

Self-Esteem: too much of a Good Thing?

Jim Ring - 1 May 2005

The idea that low self-esteem is the cause of violent behaviour has been current for some time. Many years ago I attended numerous education meetings where I heard that certain (male) individuals "lacked self-esteem" when it seemed patently obvious that this was not true. I argued that these individuals greatly esteemed many of their own behaviours - it was just that these behaviours were those the counsellors thought should be deplored.

Something to Laugh About

Vicki Hyde - 1 May 2005

There's a stereotype of card-carrying members of the Skeptics Society that we're dour, humour-less, cynical nay-sayers; depressed Eeyores not cheerful Tiggers. Like most stereotypes, it's 95% wrong. I'm often asked what characterises a member of the Skeptics, and I think of the diverse opinions, the range of religious and political beliefs, the spectrum of occupations and interests. Apart from a compulsive inquisitiveness about the world, the only other major thing all Skeptics seem to have in common is a large capacity for laughter.