Written question asked by Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 1 December 2004. It was answered by Melanie Johnson (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 December 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children under 15 years of age who (a) died and (b) suffered from leukaemia in each of the last three years who lived (i) within 100 metres of and (ii) over 100 metres away from high voltage power lines. - Inc ref to www.who.int/peh-emf.

Answer: Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children under 15 years of age who (a) died and (b) suffered from leukaemia in each of the last three years who lived (i) within 100 metres of and (ii) over 100 metres away from high voltage power lines. [199609] Miss Melanie Johnson: No such estimate has been made. The Department has, however, been supporting a study by the Childhood Cancer Research Group at Oxford University of children with leukaemia diagnosed between 1962 and 1995 in relation to their residential proximity to power lines. A summary of the study design is available on the WHO web site at www.who.int/peh-emf.

Secondary information