Suit Expected to Boost Requests for Power Line Tests : Health: SDG&E; is bracing for calls from concerned customers after a family blames electromagnetic fields for its child’s cancer.

Each time a television station or a newspaper reports on the potential link between electric power lines and cancer, San Diego Gas & Electric is deluged with requests from concerned utility customers who fear that their health is being endangered by electromagnetic fields emanating from nearby power lines.

In February, for example, a five-part report by a local television station prompted nearly 500 San Diegans to take advantage of a free “electromagnetic field testing” program that SDG&E; offers to its customers.

A second recent television report, which appeared the same day as a newspaper article about the health effects of electromagnetic fields, prompted 109 more calls for the testing, which determines the strength of electromagnetic fields.

Consequently, SDG&E; is bracing for a rush of requests for EMF testing after the filing of a precedent-setting lawsuit that alleges that a 4-year-old girl’s two rare forms of cancer were caused by SDG&E; electric power distribution lines in her Mission Valley neighborhood.

The suit, filed in Superior Court in San Diego, alleges that the girl’s cancers were caused by unusually high levels of electromagnetic radiation.

“I’d be shocked if we didn’t see a lot of requests for measurements” in the wake of the highly publicized lawsuit, SDG&E; spokesman John Britton said Thursday. “We get substantially more inquiries every time the media does (an EMF) story.” Requests fall off noticeably, however, if EMF remains out of the news, Britton said.

Although scientists disagree on the health effects of EMF, utilities can quickly and accurately measure its presence. SDG&E;, like most utilities, will take those measurements for its customers.

But utility employees won’t attempt to “tell what those numbers mean” because of the dispute over whether EMF causes certain types of cancer, Britton said. Rather than stonewall customers, SDG&E; “tries to give customers the information we have,” Britton said. “And we’ve got a substantial number of customers knocking on our door seeking numbers.”

SDG&E; has trained a group of retired employees to test for EMF--which is measured in a unit known as a milligauss. Those crews also explain that scientists have yet to reach agreement on possible links between EMF and cancer. However, employees are trained not to gloss over the growing debate over EMF’s health effects, Britton said.

“We’re sensitive to our customer’s concerns,” Britton said. “We talk to them (about EMF) . . . and we do follow-ups to make sure that their questions are answered. We do not want to be accused of sitting back and not being responsive.”

Although power lines have always been seen as obtrusive, controversy over their health effects has grown more heated in recent years. Scientists are studying electromagnetic fields generated by the high-voltage lines that transport power around the country as well as the relatively low-power distribution lines that can be found in all residential neighborhoods.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court focuses largely upon an electric distribution line that runs within 12 feet of the child’s home. The suit includes data gathered by a private company that found EMF levels inside the home that ranged between 3.5 milligauss and 17 milligauss.

Although little is known about EMF’s health effects, some municipalities are creating regulations that are designed to protect residents from potential problems.

A few municipalities have instituted “disclosure requirements,” which require sellers of homes to inform buyers of nearby power lines and the growing controversy over possible health effects.

Earlier this year, the city of Irvine forced a developer to accept tougher setback requirements before building housing units near a transmission line. The Irvine regulations do not deal with lower-power distribution lines which crisscross any residential neighborhood.

The setbacks were unusual because they were based upon actual EMF measurements. In contrast, most existing setback regulations that govern construction near transmission lines have been set “according to arbitrary judgments,” said Bob Johnson, Irvine’s director of community planning.

“We essentially set a standard for residential developments and for more sensitive uses like day-care facilities,” Johnson said. “We’re pretty happy with what we’ve done.” The Irvine setbacks are designed to limit EMF to 4 milligauss or less in residential areas, Johnson said. Irvine settled upon the 4 milligauss level after reviewing scientific literature “from around the world.”

Yet even Irvine’s standard could change when the scientific debate is settled. The regulations will change “if we find that the standard should be 2 milligauss, or if we find ours is too restrictive,” Johnson said.

In California, the state Public Utilities Commission is “looking into the question of what kinds of responses the commission should have if it becomes established that there are adverse health effects” from EMF, said George Hersh, an environmental program manager with the PUC.

In 1989, the PUC published a 600-page report--and a subsequent update--that attempted to chronicle EMF studies.

The state Department of Health is now studying the possible association of EMF and spontaneous abortions and the possible association between EMF generated by lower-voltage distribution lines and childhood cancer. Those studies are not yet at a point where conclusions can be drawn, Hersh said.