The cross party committee, which is made up of 5 MPs with an interest in health, has been carrying out an inquiry over the last year into the possible link between childhood leukaemia and exposure to the electromagnetic fields (ELF EMF) created by high voltage overhead power lines.

The committee has concluded that although the science is still unclear the Government should err on the side of caution and introduce a moratorium on the construction of homes and schools within at least 60m of power lines. It also said that information about the level of electromagnetic fields within homes should be provided to home buyers as a matter of course.

Dr Stoate, who chaired the committee, said: “The overall body of evidence shows that there is undoubtedly a link between living near very high voltage power lines and childhood leukaemia. We can’t say that the one causes the other but we can say that there is an association. I always take the view in science that if you don’t know something it is generally better to err on the side of caution, rather than to look back in 20 years time and say, if only we had done more 20 years ago.”

The committee’s report follows the publication in April this year of the first interim assessment of the Stakeholder Advisory Group on EMF (SAGE), a body funded by the Department of Health, the National Grid and Children with Leukaemia. It also identified a building moratorium on the building of new homes and schools within 60m of existing 275kV and 400kV power lines as ‘the best available option for obtaining significant exposure reduction’.

Dr Stoate has acknowledged that a moratorium could have important ramifications as far as the Government’s house building plans for the Thames Gateway and the other growth areas are concerned.

“There is a high concentration of overhead power lines in the Thames Gateway and many of the principal development sites are crossed by them. I think that we need to think very carefully therefore as to how these sites are planned and where the new homes are located on them. If we have to divert or bury power cables or even reduce the number of homes that are planned on certain sites in order to safeguard residents then so be it.”

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