An ongoing dialogue on EMF

Year

2004

Organisation

National Grid

Description

National Grid has developed a set of measures to address the fear of EMF. In 2004, National Grid initiated a stakeholder advisory group on Electromagnetic fields (SAGE), which was later adopted by the Department of Health in order to provide advice to the government. It is funded equally by the electricity industry, the British Government, and the Children with Leukemia charity group.

Main information:

This stakeholder group is not a formally constituted body, but rather a dialogue process, which involves key stakeholders on the topic of EMF. This has included a mix of industry, national government departments, regulators and advisory bodies, academics, individuals, and local and national campaign groups.

SAGE's First Interim Assessment was published in April 2007. It considers, amongst others, possible precautionary measures for EMFs from power lines. This was followed up in 2010 with SAGE's Second Interim Assessment. Both assessments received official government responses. The work of SAGE led to more discourse based on the inclusion of different stakeholders. With the government’s response, National Grid has a legitimate basis to refer to during specific projects. To inform the public on the different aspects of the EMF discussion, a website has been established by National Grid. On this website, details of EMF are explained, international and UK recommendations and regulations are laid out, and contact details (email and toll-free telephone number specifically for the purpose of EMF) are published. Moreover, the current status of research on different aspects is set out, including abstracts to studies concerning childhood leukaemia and other diseases.

National Grid developed several publications, which provide information on EMF in different formats. For a short overview, a factsheet on EMF is included on every website and available at information events. To get a more in-depth understanding of current research findings, National Grid has established a specialist EMF unit to answer questions via telephone or email. The unit also advises specific project teams. Staff members have a scientific background and support the project team with information events or publications.

 In the context of the North Wales Connection Project, National Grid released a holistic report on the topic of Electric and Magnet Fields in 2018.

RGI gratefully acknowledges the EU LIFE funding support:

EU LIFE funding support Logo

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the LIFE Programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.