EMFs may threaten pooch - residential electromagnetic fields linked to lymphoma in dogs - Brief Article

Science News, March 18, 1995

Several studies have linked residential electromagnetic fields (EMFs) with human cancers, especially those of the blood. A new study now suggests that these fields may pose a similar risk to pets.

John S. Reif and his coworkers at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins focused their study on 230 dogs hospitalized with cancer. These included 93 animals with canine lymphoma--a common blood cancer whose origins remain unknown.

After characterizing the wiring in each pet's home, Reif's team measured, whenever possible, actual magnetic fields where the dog spent most of its time.

Overhead power lines running along streets and up to homes constitute the biggest overall contributor to residential EMFs (SN: 8/21/93, p.124). And in this study, factors associated with those lines also showed the strongest link to lymphoma. They included high front-yard fields (more than 2 milligauss) or "open secondary" wires (that have been associated with very high fields). Compared to animals whose homes were fed by buried power lines, dogs exposed to these factors faced double the cancer risk--and it tripled if the animal spent 25 percent or more of its time outside.

But the most powerful statistical association to the cancer occurred in those 10 dogs whose homes were located very near a large, "primary" power distribution line. After adjusting for potentially confounding variables, researchers found that the dogs had 13.4 times the lymphoma risk of animals from homes with buried power lines.

Overall, Reif's team concludes in the Feb. 15 American Journal of Epidemiology, this investigation suggests that "dogs may act as a 'sentinel' species" for studying environmental threats to the families with whom they share a home.