Redfin Readers Point Out Power Lines

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about several Oakland properties north of me that have been inching closer in price to the amount I paid for my house two years ago. I lamented that I would have done well to wait out the housing bubble: had I done so, I likely could have scored a larger house in a more valuable neighborhood. One of the properties, 1267 Bates Rd., was puzzling since it’s price ($529,000) did not seem to match its location (the coveted Trestle Glen).  Readers Rbehs and Optionarm pointed out respectively:

I believe Bates is under large powerlines

and

In the street view for Bates, if you angle the view upwards you can see the large powerstructure

Sure enough, checking out the Google street view for the Bates home, you can see a humongous transformer in the backyard. Ahhh…Nothing like Redfin readers to give you the lowdown on real estate. This prompted several other cool readers (hi Art, David, Jackie and Adam!) to discuss the perils of having a huge hunk of power structure hovering over you: loud humming, definitely not eye candy and possible adverse health effects from EMFs (electromagnetic fields). Thanks dear readers! Not only did you educate me on yet one more item to be aware of when purchasing a house, you got me investigating EMF’s (for this thirtysomething, I hitherto only knew EMF as the band that sang the catchy “Unbelievable”, you know, that song that was played at proms and clubs across the US in the ’90’s?) Interestingly, I couldn’t find much that has been written about EMFs after 2002 when the California Environmental Health Investigations Branch was commissioned to do a study on their alleged health hazards. (See California EMF Program and their Short Fact Sheet on EMF ). 

The World Health Organization (WHO) website also has a pretty comprehensive and user friendly overview of EMF’s. What sturck me most was one of their tables comparing acceptable exposure limits.  They note that 5,000 V/m (volts per meter) is the highest acceptable “public exposure” while 10,000 V/m is the highest “occupational exposure”.  Ok. Fine. So just know what you’re getting into if you work in a field where you’ll have high occupational exposure, right?  Not so fast. You should also be aware of possible high exposure if your home is close (under?!?) a power transformer, since “powerline exposure beneath large power lines” is estimated to be around 10,000 V/m (compare this to only 100 V/m exposure for homes not near power structures).  Of course, this brings me to the Trestle Glen homes. How much will you be exposed to under those big suckers? While much of the research has not found conclusive evidence of the health risks they pose, WHO states:

There is no doubt that short-term exposure to very high levels of electromagnetic fields can be harmful to health. Current public concern focuses on possible long-term health effects caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields at levels below those required to trigger acute biological responses.

and

Despite extensive research, to date there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health.

 However, the 2002 California study found:

an association between leukemia and…high magnetic field exposure such as living very near a powerline…

All of this sheds some light on why some of these Trestle Glen homes might be having a hard time selling (on top of our already disastrous market). But what do you say? Would you think twice about living under a power transformer? Let me know your thoughts, and again, a big shout out to everyone who brought my attention to transformers and EMFs in the first place!

More links discussing EMFs:

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health 

US Department of Labor OSHA ELF Radiation Hazard Locations and Solutions

Wi-Fi As A Health Hazard

Electric Power Research Institute