Revealing Electricity Measurements

In East Lansing, Michigan measures of electricity in six homes, a school, and the Nextel cell-phone generator/antenna installed on the city water tower was revealing.

• Current on water pipes in homes-school averaged 1.63 A, and ranged from 0.35 to 4.0 A (Figure below).
• OSHA Directive CPL 2-1.18A - Enforcement of the Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Standard, Effective Date: October 20, 1997, states as follows:  "Hazardous energy means a voltage at which there is sufficient energy to cause injury.
• If no precautions are taken to protect employees from hazards associated with involuntary reactions from shock, a hazard is presumed to exist if the induced current is sufficient to pass a current of 1 milliampere through a 500 ohm resister. (The 500 ohm resister represents the resistance of an employee. The 1 milliamp current is the threshold of perception).  If employees are protected from injury due to involuntary reactions from electric shock, a hazard is presumed to exist if the resultant current would be more than 6 milliamperes (the let go threshold for women)."
• OSHA may have underestimated the risk, because resistances from current greater than 60 Hz frequency are lower (175-200 ohm) and amperage passing through the body is higher than at 60 Hz with the same voltage.
• Current on exposed water pipes and faucets in the East Lansing environment averaged 1,630 milliampere. More than 1600 times perception level, and 272 times the 6 mA let go threshold for women defined by OSHA.
• The Frequency Spectrum revealed that 3rd, 5th, and 7th harmonics were abundant on the neutral-to-ground conductor of the Nextel cell phone signal generator, on electrical neutrals of electrical outlets, and on water pipes of East Lansing homes, and STA school, as well as a dozen other RF, VHF, and UHF signals to 1.2 GHz which contributed to the high Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) exceeding IEEE THD Standards, and excess amperage on these conductors.
• The high current and high frequency harmonics suggest that East Lansing residents and school children are at extraordinary risk for cancer because of the uncontrolled electricity found in the homes and school that are greater than in the high risk homes in Denver.
• Mitigation procedures are under consideration by the utilities, city officials, and concerned parties.