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In sci.geo.geology, on Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:12:44 GMT, George
<george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> sez:
` "Bob Officer" <bobofficers@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
` news:k8klv1ha4rjv24r1fk7045jk1l59jn28lk@xxxxxxxxxx
` > On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 06:48:59 GMT, in sci.geo.earthquakes, "George"
` > <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
` >
` >>
` >>"Skywise" <into@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
` >>news:11vlc6d2b4l3la4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
` >>> "George" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
` >>> hxwKf.781084$x96.334152@attbi_s72:">news:hxwKf.781084$x96.334152@attbi_s72:
` >>>
` >>> <Snipola>
` >>>> Brian, you just gave me an idea. Those large transformers at the
` >>>> substation near my parent's home used to blow up on a semi-annual
` >>>> basis
` >>> <Snipola>
` >>>
` >>> I wasn't thinking of that specifically, but now that you mention
` >>> it, that could very well be the cause. I recall watching expose's
` >>> on TV back inthe 80's and earlier about the dangers of PCB's in
` >>> transformers. Seemed there were cancer clusters popping up all
` >>> over that had that one thing in common. Even the 'pole pigs' on
` >>> the neighborhood pole leaked, contaminating backyards.
` >>>
` >>> Brian
` >>> --
` >>> http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
` >>> Seismic FAQ: www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html">http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
` >>> Quake "predictions": www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html">http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
` >>> Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?
` >>
` >>Yeah, given that I've worked on sites that were contaminated with PCBs,
` >>it
` >>should have occurred to me sooner. Duh! Only thing is, I've looked up
` >>the
` >>toxicological effects of PCBs and there is no mention of the kinds of
` >>cancers and non-cancerous tumours that I've seen in my parents'
` >>neighborhood. The worst damage it causes is liver cancer and cancer of
` >>the
` >>bilary tract. No mention of brain tumours. The reports do suggest that
` >>it
` >>may be a factor in other diseases. Sigh. It's never easy, and rarely
` >>simple, is it?
` >
` > PCB break down to Dioxins
` >
` >
www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=dioxin+PCBs&btnG=Search">http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=dioxin+PCBs&btnG=Search
` >
` > www.noharm.org/us/pvcDehp/dioxin">http://www.noharm.org/us/pvcDehp/dioxin
` >
` >
` > --
` > Ak'toh'di
` Yeah, I know. Nasty stuff.
` George
I'm somewhat ambivalent about the whole powerline thing (there's currently
a row locally over a 250kV line being pushed through a nearby
neighbourhood). I've generally been in the camp that says look, you
get higher fields sitting next to your 110V lightbulb 6" from your
head while you read your book, but I must admit that when those
fields are at that strength over such distances that you can hold
up a 4' fluorescent lamp at night and see it lighting up from the
voltage difference, there are certainly going to be some sort of
effects going on. That said, I've tended to be of the opinion (because
I know much less about chemistry, biology, and toxicology, and
the answers are likely to be in the areas I haven't explored...)
that the place people should be looking is to the atmospheric
chemistry that is catalyzed by the corona discharges around the
conductors. In the particle physics HV wire chamber detectors
we use around here, we have to design to eliminate any chance
of corona discharges, beyond any electronic interference they
can cause, because the strange chemistry they foster (via strange
ions and radicals they pump out) will poison the delicate balance
of gases needed to maintain a situation where a charged particle
will cause a small burst of current in the HV field, which then
spontaneously quenches before an arc develops. O2 is also a
nasty killer for wire chambers, and because we keep it out,
we can see a lot of the weird results of HV discharge that
would otherwise be oxidized into less obvious forms. For instance,
we will often see, in afflicted chambers, the organic vapour
components of the gas mixture polymerizing with silicon apparently
from the fibreglas of the chamber structure, and plating onto
the wires as some sort of silicone glorp. What sort of species
might you get with atmospheric N2 and O2 and plastic insulator parts,
forming on the towers and drifting down, studded with active
radical bits? This would suggest undergrounding HV lines would
eliminate the problems...
--
==========================================================================
vincent@triumf[munge].ca Pete Vincent
Disclaimer: all I know I learned from reading Usenet.
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