The risk of childhood leukaemia being caused by overhead electricity power lines is either extremely small or non-existent, a conference on science and the quality of life was told in Limerick on Saturday.
Prof Philip Walton, who specialises in applied physics at NUI Galway, told the gathering that a person who stood under a power line was exposed to a much lower magnetic field than that of an electric oven or a hair-dryer.
He said results from a major study in the UK of cancers in children living near power lines had shown that leukaemia caused two extra deaths per year - over and above 500 expected deaths - in children aged zero to 16.
"Prorated for Ireland, which has about one-fifteenth of the population, this means that one death from childhood leukaemia every 7½ years in addition to 33 expected deaths might be due to this effect, if it exists at all," he said. "It could be due to chance."
Childhood leukaemia was the only cancer that had shown a rise. He said the total figures for cancers in children living near power lines had stayed the same because other, non-leukaemia cancers showed a slight decrease.
He said the independent body in the UK that deals with protection from radiation had said it was pointless to further investigate the possible effects of overhead lines. This was because the population was too small to show up any conclusive variations.