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STREET JoURNAL. • • Southern California Edison Study Finds No Workplace T ie Between Cancer, EMF By BILL Rtctinnos Sta/JR¢porfernjTUe Ww,.oSTrseeTJourtnnL In a study with broad implications for the electric utility industry, researchers say they found no unusual cancer levels among nearly 12,000 Southern California utility workers exposed to high levels of electromagnetism. Funded by Southern California Edison Co., the study, published today in the journal Epidemiology, undercuts earlier reports linking leukemia and other cancers to workplace exposure to electromagnetic fields, or EMF. EMF is produced when electric current passes through a wire. Earlier studies reported elevated can- cer levels in workers as diverse as motion picture projector operators, aluminum smelter workers and telephone linemen- triggering health concerns and lawsuits. Experts said the latest study does not relate to other widely publicized re- ports linking EMF exposure to elevated levels of leukemia in children. One such study, done by Swedish researchers last year, found that children living r.ear pi,wer lines were up to four times more likely to develop leukemia than those living farther away from EMF sources. "It is unlikely our study will speak to the question of children's leukemia and EMF," said Jack Said, the study's lead author. Mr. Sahl, a senior research scien- tist at Southern California Edison Co., said that among other differences, leukemia seems to develop far more rapidly in young children than in adults. In the latest study, researchers said they evaluated health data from 36.221 workers who were employed by Southern California for at least a year between 1960 and 1988. They said they found no evidence of unusual levels of leukemia, brain cancer or lymphoma in the group. The study also failed to find elevated cancer levels in nearly 12,000 et4lMlfirM elassified as hav- _ing especially high occupational exposure to EMF. Southern California Edison called the report "the most comprehensive and best- designed study done to date on this topic." The utility said the research team used more sophisticated methods than previous researchers, including studying workers' full job histories and taking on-sight EMF measurements. It said the study's weak- nesses included the statistically small number of cancers in the sample and the fact that other EMF-related possibilities, such as birth defects, weren't included. Although the utility said the application of the study to non-Edison workers is "uncertain," Mr. Sahi said, "this weakens the argument that there is a connection between EMF and cancer in the work environment." - Mr. Sahl said the researchers were surprised by the findings. "We were sur- prised that after improving on the method- ology of the earlier studies, we didn't find a stronger relationship to leukemia and other cancers." Other researchers said they too were surprised. "There's no obvious expiana- tion," said David Savitz, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina. Three years ago, Dr. Savitz headed a research team that reported finding elevated levels of brain cancer in electrical workers ex- posed to EMF. Dr. Savitz said Mr. Sahl's team did "a well-designed study" that was more com- plete than his research, which relied only on information from workers' death certifi- cates. "This moves my thinking a little bit in the negative direction," he said. Utilities have generally maintained no conclusive evidence exists to link EMF and cancer. Nonetheless, fearful of the possible medical and legal fallout from the contro- versy, the industry now spends over 51 ~ billion annually to cut EMF exposure ~/. 0