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  High-tension power lines are electrical lines that transmit electric current over long distances. The lines usually go from the source of production of power, called the main station, to the intended destination. These destinations are usually hubs or substations from which power is supplied to homes or offices or factories. These transmission lines usually carry power outputs of between 138 and 765 kilovolts. Some health risks are associated with transmission from these power lines.
  
  

Possible Carcinogen

• Since 1980, researchers have been debating whether high-tension power lines contribute to causing leukemia or blood cancer among children who suffer significant exposure. In 1979, a study done by researcher Paul Brodeur suggested a close correlation between the occurrence of leukemia in children and exposure to high-tension power lines. Brodeur argued vehemently that children who lived close to high-tension wires were exposed to the electromagnetic field waves that are an inevitable result of electrical transmission and that these waves caused leukemia. However, according to the Health Phsyics Society, most objective studies have shown that while there may be a link between the disease and proximity to power lines, the link is unclear and perhaps incidental. Therefore, the connection is possible, but not yet proven.
  
  

Health Problems for Women

• According to the Power Line Facts website, exposure to certain high-tension power lines can make a pregnant woman five times more likely to have a miscarriage in the first 10 weeks of her pregnancy. However, these statistics apply to wires in which the power is 16 milligauss or higher, while average high-voltage electric wires that individuals are exposed to are 2 milligauss in intensity.
  
  

Other Risks

• Power Line Facts suggests that exposure to electrical fields of an intensity of more than 1 millivolt per meter can interfere with the proper functioning of heart pacemakers and defibrillators. Exposure to these levels is very rare except in households that are situated almost directly next to power stations.