Is it true that staying close to Electric Metre room or transformers in housing complexes is harmful?

Question

If so, how can one reduce the bad effect staying at the same place? Please elaborate.

Answer 1

I don't see anything wrong with staying near the meter room, as there won't be any more radiated fields from a concentrated set of meters, than there would be around wires running through the walls (for the outlets, switches, and lights).

The transformer boxes will have higher radiated fields, but the metal boxes surrounding the transformers (mostly for safety to prevent kids from electrocuting themselves) do an adequate job of shielding the EM fields. Even if there are vents, as long as there is no direct line-of-sight to the transformer the vents still act to shield 50 Hz and 60 Hz EM.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the biological effects of low-frequency, relatively low-power 50 or 60 Hz EM from a transformer. I'd be more annoyed at the loud hum and buzzing noise than any EM effects. I would take an apartment next to the meter room, or near the transformer/distrubution room if I had to, without fear of bio-effects of EM.

The only studies I have heard about, of this nature, are about ultra high voltage power lines, and what you describe is definitely not ultra high voltage.

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Answer 2

It's the Electro Motive Force, or EMF. Just how it affects us is still not clear.

In the case of cancer, most specialists theorize that a malignant tumor forms in at least two stages. In the first, referred to as "initiation," an outside agent damages the cell's genetic material. Because EMFs are not strong enough to break molecular and chemical bonds, scientists are concentrating on the second stage of cancer, a series of steps called "promotion." Researchers are tying to pinpoint ways in which EMFs might cause cells to grow and multiply abnormally.

Some studies suggest that EMFs may promote cancer by interfering with the transmission of calcium across the cell membrane, a flow that governs such processes as muscle contraction, egg fertilization, cell division, and growth. EMFs may also disturb a cell's ability to process hormone, enzyme, and other biological signals that regulate normal growth.

EMFs are known to affect nerve impulses. Melatonin, a regulatory hormone secreted by the pineal gland near the brain, ordinarily stimulates immune responses and may suppress tumor growth. Reduced melatonin production has been linked to breast and prostate cancer. Melatonin secretion in turn is controlled by norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Receptors for its relative, the hormone epinephrine, are disturbed by EMFs.

You can reduce its effect by reinforcing your walls and roof with acoustic boards, just like what they use in conference rooms, music rooms and cinemas. Acoustic boards help absord radiation.