There is increasing public concern over the possible harmful effects of extra-low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic (em) fields. A variety of harmful effects have been linked with em field exposure, for example depression and suicide, carcinogenesis, birth defects, and spontaneous abortion. The epidemiological evidence, especially the more recent studies, suggests that there may be a small increased risk of childhood cancers in those living near overhead power lines. However laboratory evidence to date does not support this link. An epidemiological correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship: to confirm such a relationship, biological and laboratory evidence is required. This work studies the magnitude of human exposure to ELF magnetic fields from overhead power lines and visual display units (VDUs) and also investigates possible health effects at the microscopic level through cell culture experiments. From the epidemiological evidence, an effect threshold of approximately 300 nT was estimated. Detailed magnetic field distributions were measured round a variety of visual display units and only a very few emitted magnetic fields even close to the 300 nT threshold. Following an in-depth case study of a VDU operator who suffered from a combination of symptoms including eyestrain and headaches, a study of the health of nearly 200 office workers and VDU users was set up. The aims of the study were to investigate the range and severity of symptoms suffered by VDU users, to investigate possible causes and to study response to VDU work at an individual level. It was found that those working between 10 and 30 hours per week at a VDU were more likely to suffer symptoms of ill health. In contrast, those working more than 30 hours per week at a VDU were not more likely to suffer symptoms when compared with a control group of those working less than 10 hours per week at a VDU. In particular, increased reporting of eye problems and fatigue were most strongly associated with VDU work.

This thesis aims to develop a calculation method to determine themagnetic field magnitudes in the vicinity of power lines, i.e. bothburied cables and overhead lines. This is done through the numericaluse of Biot Savart's law where the conductors are approximated by aseries of straight segment elements that each contribute to the overallfield strength at the field point. The method is compared to two realcases and to the exact integral solution. Also, a review of some of theresearch material regarding electromagnetic fields from power lines andclaims of adverse health effects due to these fields is conducted.Results show that the numerical error is dependent on the segmentationdegree of the conductors and the mathematical model is inaccurate closeto the conductor. The calculations show slightly higher fieldmagnitudes than the previous survey done by WSP (Williams SalePartnership) far away from the source and slightly lower at the centerconductor. This may be due to the excluded induction in the shieldwires and differences in actual conductor coordinates.