As the Scandinavian (epidemiological) studies of the association between childhood cancer and dwellings close to high-voltage lines were published in the early 1990s, the Danish health authorities set up a task force, SEIIS. The group reviewed and evaluated national and international research findings.

The Danish National Board of Health concluded on the basis of the task force's work that magnetic fields in themselves could not be classified as carcinogenic. The Danish and one Swedish study collectively supported the suspicion of an increased incidence of cancer in children living close to high-voltage lines, but as the statistical material was too sparse it neither confirmed nor disconfirmed the suspicion.

Exposure limits, no - precautionary approach, yes
The Danish National Board of Health also assessed that the potential risk would be very small. If there is a link, one extra case of childhood leukaemia every five years could be associated with magnetic fields. About 150 children are diagnosed with leukaemia in Denmark each year.

The National Board of Health came to the conclusion that there was no scientific basis for defining exposure limits, and instead it recommended a precautionary approach applying to the construction of new power lines near homes and vice versa.

The 1993 evaluation has been followed by the publication of several studies and assessments. Against this background, the National Board of Health concluded that there was no scientific basis for changing the original evaluation.