Pupils’ Exposure to High Electromagnetic Fields Enrages Parents : Health: Transformer may have subjected a teacher and 33 kindergartners to potential hazard, report says.

Parents of kindergarten students at Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School reacted with rage and tears Friday to a report that a school transformer had exposed their children to strong electromagnetic fields--the subject of a scientific debate as a cause of cancer.

A group of about 30 parents were told that an electrical transformer outside a bungalow classroom may have exposed 33 kindergartners and their teacher to the electromagnetic field, often shortened to EMF.

Many in the group complained that it had taken the Los Angeles Unified School District more than three months to inform parents and teachers of the potential danger.

EMFs are present wherever an electric current passes through a wire. Several scientific studies have found a small increase in cancer rates among children living near high-current power lines and among workers in occupations involving electricity, such as utility line workers and film projectionists.

A smaller number of studies have found no connection, and scientists generally say a causal link between EMF and cancer has not been proven.

Gathering in the Dixie Canyon school’s library, the parents heard a presentation by Winifred Yancy, a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power electrical engineer who described results of a December study of the transformer’s electromagnetic field.

The study reported that the highest EMF reading--taken at the teacher’s chair--was 107 milligauss.

While there is no agreement on what magnetic field exposure level--if any--poses a health risk, some experts have said the safe level is as low as 1 milligauss, the level that would be detected about a foot from an electric toaster in use. EMF strengths fall off sharply with distance from the electrical source.

Neither the school district nor the DWP have guidelines for acceptable levels of EMFs.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said kindergarten teacher Chris Chan, fighting back tears. “Why didn’t they let us know? I’ve been sitting in that chair. I don’t want to be a statistic. I want to see my grandchildren.”

Yancy used an analogy to illustrate the difficulty in proving a causal link between EMFs and health problems.

“A rooster crows and the temperature rises,” she said. “We know that the sunrise causes both events. But a crowing rooster does not cause the sun to rise.”

But many parents were not convinced.

“I’m livid,” said Jeff Fried of Sherman Oaks, who has a daughter in the class. “There are no studies that say chocolate milk causes cancer. But a number of studies say there is a relationship between electromagnetic fields and cancer.”

The issue was raised in late September when Fried approached the school with a concern about the proximity of several transformers--which convert electrical voltage from 480-volt high power transmission lines to the 120-volt domestic standard--to the wall of the kindergarten room. School administrators informed the district and DWP took the readings Dec. 6.

District officials said a number of factors, including winter vacation and the Northridge earthquake, prevented them from getting the results of the survey to the school before Friday.

“I don’t know what happened,” said James Matte, who works for the district’s office of environmental health and safety. “It was a breakdown in communication. That’s the best way to describe it.”

Diane Doi, director of the district’s environmental health and safety department, which assigns EMF studies, said one other school, Mayall Street Elementary in North Hills, had high EMF levels detected last year, but the problem was corrected with fencing around the transformers to keep children at a safe distance.

“As far as I know, it was just one other school,” Doi said. “It was an isolated case.” But Mike Loveridge, a facilities director for the district, said there are many transformers located next to classrooms.

“It depends on the configuration of the building--it’s not uncommon,” said Loveridge. “We’ve got them everywhere.”

Doi said representatives from her department will meet with maintenance officials to formulate a districtwide plan to look into EMF levels.

In the meantime, district officials plan to move a portable classroom to the Dixie Canyon campus by Monday and transfer kindergarten students to a temporary classroom until the new one is ready.