THE EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC-FIELDS FROM TRANSMISSION-LINES ON PUBLIC FEARS AND PROPERTY-VALUES

Reports that proximity to electrical transmission or distribution line s may be responsible for increases in human health risks, including le ukemia and brain cancers, have resulted in a sharp rise in the level o f public concern despite decidedly mixed scientific results. An import ant policy question is whether these perceptions of health risks may a lso have resulted in measurable reductions in the value of properties in the vicinity of electrical lines. In this paper, we first discuss s ome of the reasons why power-frequency lines could cause reductions in property values and review the implications of public concerns about EMF exposure for mitigation initiatives. We then summarize findings, f rom recent court cases as well as published literature and reports, re garding the observed magnitude and extent of reduced property values. In a final section, we use these results to provide bounds on the exte nt of likely property value reductions due to concerns about EMF expos ure. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited