Inasmuch as the hypothesis is that the E/M fields from the power lines themselves cause various ailments... well, go out near a power line with a compass. If you get no noticeable effect on your compass, it is safe to say that the E/M field from the line is well below background (and no, the sort of E/M field you get from a DC or 50 Hz line is not substantially different from the Earth's magnetic field).

If the hypothesis is that electrical discharges ionise pollutants already present in the air, then you have something that at least isn't prima facie nonsense. (But where are those discharges coming from? Failure of the isolation? That would be a far more serious problem than any amount of particulate matter ionised in the process.)

The problem with citing individual studies is that there have been well over a hundred studies on HV lines over the years - so purely on the basis of a 5 % significance threshold, it should be possible to find a handful of independent studies confirming an effect. What we'd really need is a meta-study. Unfortunately, the places I usually go for a summary of the epidemiological literature turned up dry (Orac has nothing and Quackwatch debunks the EMF nonsense but does not consider aerosol generation from sparks).

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.