Closing the Book; March 1998; Scientific American Magazine; by Stix; 2 Page(s)

Last July, Edward W. Campion, a deputy editor at the New England Journal of Medicine, made a plea to kill studies that seek ties between power-line electromagnetic fields and cancer. "The 18 years of research have produced considerable paranoia, but little insight and no prevention. It is time to stop wasting our research resources," Campion wrote.

The editorial accompanied a report in the journal of a large epidemiological study by the National Cancer Institute that showed "little evidence" that magnetic fields from high-voltage lines, household wiring or appliances can increase the risk of childhood leukemia. It also followed by eight months a National Research Council review of hundreds of studies that indicated that "the current body of evidence does not show that exposure to these fields presents a human health hazard."