Posted on Tuesday 29 April 2008
Hybrid, fuel-cell and all-electric vehicles are viewed by many as the future of the motoring world but there is a growing fear that the flow of electrical current from the motors that power such vehicles produces harmful magnetic fields, which some scientists associate with a number of health risks including increased risk of cancer. Magnetic fields are all around us in our everyday lives – produced by everything from mobile phones to hair dryers – but in the case of an EV or hybrid prolonged exposure because of high power cables located close to the driver and passengers could compound the effects.
Initial tests on current hybrid vehicles using simple hand-held meters are starting to show alarming results, reports The New York Times. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute acknowledge the potential hazards of long-term exposure to a strong electromagnetic field and the harmful effects of living near high-voltage utility lines.
Currently, there is no regulatory standard over what level of exposure constitutes a health hazard or what should be the maximum limit, however carmakers such as Honda and Toyota claim internals tests have shown there is no risk to motorists.
Researchers are still sitting on the fence, saying there’s no need to be alarmed but the potential health risk should not be ignored either.
This should be an interesting space to watch.
I can hear it now “did you eat paint chips as a kid? no, my parents owned a hybrid.”
It is a known fact that people living under power lines have higher rates of certain types of cancer the other twist is that it is not known how such forces cause cancer cells to form in the body.
Now that you have placed someone in a designated area (their car) that generates something to cause cancer you have a whole different problem on your hands! Also here in California it is law to hang a sign in public view if something is a known carcinagin [sic].
The folks at Toyota must be as nervous as long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs if they have to place a sign in a Prius for all to see that states this vehicle causes cancer! Also the plain fact that it was a Toyota product used as the picture for this article cant be going down to well either.
I’d say its one for Hydrogen and one less reason to go down the hybrid path.
They’re going to have to solve this one way or the other, since eventually I think all cars will be electric.
Can’t these fields be shielded somehow through better insulation or some kind of magnetic shielding? Maybe I just don’t understand enough about elctromagnetic fields.
But didn’t they also just prove that using cell phones has no statistical effect on brain tumor formation, as was once feared? Who to believe? Certianly not the manufacturers, but also not just any research study that exposes rats to billions of volts and calls it a result comparable to sitting in a Prius…
true Gus, I hope the people involve in this take your path and start thinking ahead.
But i’m full confidence that’s theres a solution here. I’m more worried about the battery, if it can last or provides enough power to go the distance for the price that the public can have.
Personally i think this exposure to maganetic field isn’t likely to a serious threat, afterall we already talk on mobile phones for hours a day
What doesn’t cause cancer nowadays?
ok hold the effin phone. two things here; high frequency magnetic feilds are in cell phones. and they have been cleared in many studies. low frequency feilds are much less harmful. people work all their lives in power plants and never have to worry about this crap. It’s all just paranoia. people have been dying of cancer for centuries, but now that we’ve studied it so much, its just more identified now, not neccesarily more prevalent.
that being said; yes gus, sheilding can be done very easily, and in a constructive manor too. if you read up about coaxial or concentric cables, you’ll find that 99% of magnetic feilds are contained within the cable themselves. you have the positive going through the middle, then a large section of insulation, and then the negative (or neutral) goes around the outside. theoretically all the magnetic feilds are contained within the cable.
this is all just a bunch of propaganda.