Electrical Pollution: What's it doing to you and yours?
Part 2.
by Shivani Arjuna

Go to following site to see drawings and charts that accompany the following text.  The particles become quite large when charged.  -Shivani

http://www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/Layman's.htm

The primary way in which electrical power is transmitted and distributed around the country is by means of cables suspended between pylons. These cables usually carry a very high voltage, for example in Britain, 132,000 or 400,000 volts. 

The high voltage carried by these cables is sufficient to break up the air, separating electrons from individual air molecules. This is the buzzing noise that is often heard from powerline cables. This process is known as ionisation, and it results in the creation of electrically charged particles near to the powerline cable but which may be carried well away from the cable by the wind. [A current loss of just 0.1 mA per metre from powerlines corresponds to 6.25 x 1014 ions per metre per second potentially emitted into the atmosphere.]  These electrically charged particles have the ability of sticking to surfaces in the same way that dust particles may stick to a television or computer screen. In air, however, these electrically charged particles, known as corona ions (Figure 1) or more technically as small ions, usually attach themselves to microscopic particles which are present in the air and which make up the air pollution around us. These microscopic particles now have an electric charge which enables them to stick to surfaces more easily.
     [Aerosols in the proximity of power line electric fields become polarized. The polarity of the particles reverses in concert with the alternating current, setting up an oscillatory movement. The particles become “stickier” and are more likely to adhere to skin or to lung tissue.]

In outdoor conditions these microscopic particles of air pollution which have been electrically charged by the attachment of small ions can be carried well away from the powerline by the wind (Figure 2). Electrically charged particles are commonly found up to 400 metres from powerlines although in exceptional cases they have been found several kilometres away. [Aerosols are drawn up the field gradient. This causes increased concentration in the vicinity of power lines—up to 80% increase measured at the center of ROW (right of way) at 1 meter above ground level.]

When particles in the air are inhaled not all of them are trapped in the lung. For example, if you watch a cigarette smoker, they may breathe in the cigarette smoke but some of the smoke may be breathed out again. For some particles, only one third (30%) of what is breathed in is trapped in the lung. It is known that when you breathe in electrically charged particles, they have a greater chance of being trapped. Therefore if you breathe in particles that have been electrically charged by small ions then these particles too will have a greater chance of being trapped in the lung. This is the way in which small ions emitted from high voltage powerlines act to increase exposure to air pollution, by increasing the amount of air pollution we retain when it is inhaled.


We are investigating the way in which powerlines emit small ions, how they attach themselves to particles of air pollution and the level of increased amount of air pollution that is trapped in the lung of people living near powerlines. We are then investigating the consequences of this increased exposure to air pollution. Given that a number of illnesses are known to be linked to air pollution, people living near powerlines might be at greater risk of these illnesses.

     [Near transmission lines there is also much more deposition on exposed skin of radon decay particles, causing a 40% increase annually in skin cancer in those living within 40 meters of such lines.