November 13, 2006
Download a pdf of this news and comment
Just months after leaving his post as the head of the EMF project at the World
Health Organization (WHO), Mike Repacholi is now in business as an industry
consultant. The Connecticut Light and Power Co. (CL&P), a subsidiary of Northeast
Utilities,
and the United Illuminating Co. (UI) have hired Repacholi to
help steer the Connecticut Siting Council away from a strict EMF exposure
standard.
The siting council is in the process of revising the state's EMF policies. Last
year, it hired its own industry consultant, Peter Valberg of the Gradient Corp., to review the current state of EMF health research. Valberg's report, submitted in January, proposes a
"screening level" of 100 mG to protect against any adverse health
effects "even in a hypothetically more sensitive sub-population"
—that is, it would also protect young children. (What's a screening level? See
below.)
The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), on the other hand, is
backing a limit of 6-to-10 mG, based on epidemiological studies pointing to a
childhood leukemia risk at magnetic field levels above 3-4 mG.
The DPH has been sharply critical of Valberg's report. In a May 31 submission
to the siting council, the DPH advised that it provided "simplistic
reviews of the science that lead to an ill-conceived mG target level." Valberg's
proposed 100 mG level simply does not give "adequate protection" for
children, according to the DPH. (The department filed additional comments on
October 25. These latter comments, but not those filed on May 31, are
available on the council's Web site.)