[Epidemiological studies on neurotic disturbances, anxiety and depression disorders in a population living near an overhead high voltage transmission line (400 kV)].

Epidemiological studies indicate an increased incidence of depression and neurotic disorders in persons long exposed to influence of electromagnetic fields. The examinations covered a selected population of several suburban neighborhoods of Cracow living not farther than 50 m from a 400 kV high-voltage transmission line. A group of 70 persons (35 men and 35 women) living near the transmission line for longer than 10 years was examined. A control group consisted of 37 persons not subjected to an influence of similar transmission line. Instruments used in the examination included: Symptom Checklist "0", Spielberge's Self-assessment Questionnaire and Beck's Inventory. Also, a modified life-history questionnaire was applied. In the examined households we found significantly increased values of intensity of the electric component (by the so-called "ecological" Swedish norms). The population resident in the closest neighborhood of the examined transmission-line manifested high level of psychopathology, significantly different than that in the control group. However, the obtained results do not allow us to state univocally whether the observed psychopathology remains in causal nexus with the exposure to electromagnetic field. Other factors, like noise, may also be responsible for these results. The hypothesis that electromagnetic fields generated by high-voltage transmission lines may evoke depressive disorders and depression requires further clinical and experimental studies.