Website aims

Electricity contributes significantly to improvement of the quality of life and has been an essential ally of industrial, technological, economic and medical development over the last decades. Nonetheless, the public has expressed fears with regard to their exposure to electric and magnetic fields generated by AC current.

This site pursues three goals :

• To present the research activities of the Belgian experts in the Belgian BioElectroMagnetics Group (BBEMG);
• To support a better understanding of the electromagnetic fields and their possible effects on health;
• To propose a quality educational and documentation tool that integrates the required references for studying the characteristics of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields.

For the past 30 years, much research on the health effects of electromagnetic fields has been carried out, but results are often contradictory or difficult to reproduce. At present, physicists and other scientists cannot conclusively demonstrate the existence or absence of health risks, but instead agree to say that such risks, if they exist, are weak and difficult to detect (WHO, 1999).

This site’s creators wish to present open, detailed information on this subject, even though such information provides no clear- cut answers with regard to health risks. Some sections of this site are addressed specifically to scientists but are also being made available to a public desiring detailed information.

Information available on the BBEMG website is intended to meet the concerns of the general public and to propose answers to questions of specialists (e.g. scientists, physicians, public officials).

BBEMG experts and its scientific adviser have checked the contents of this site thoroughly. To guarantee scientific quality, these experts have taken particular care to propose objective, current and comprehensible information suitable for a large audience.

In 1997, Belgium granted to research projects 0.6 % of its GDP to research projects, compared to the European average of 0.8 %. Consequently, alternative financing sources are often essential to ensure the quality and development of Belgian research. Electricity companies have a special interest in the studies devoted to the health effects of electric and magnetic fields. In several countries (e.g. the United States, Canada, Great Britain and France), the electricity industry has contributed to financing research programs for many years.

In the absence of public sources of financing, the Belgian BioElectroMagnetics Group has established a contract with a private partner, Elia. The terms of the contract, which establish the relations between the partner and BBEMG scientists, guarantee the latter a complete independence of communication, publication and working conditions (Read more…).