Dr. Liburdy's papers included data describing a cellular process in the human body that could be affected by electromagnetic fields and how damage to that process could lead to cancer. An investigation by the Office of Research Integrity, an arm of the US Department of Health and Human Services, recently found Dr. Liburdy excluded data that did not support his conclusions linking cancer and electromagnetic fields.

Dr. Liburdy?s methods were questioned by a whistleblower shortly after his papers were published. Then, in July 1995, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, CA, where he worked, found Dr. Liburdy had falsified data. The laboratory then notified the Office of Research Integrity.

In announcing findings of its own investigation, the Office of Research Integrity said Dr. Liburdy had "engaged in scientific misconduct in biomedical research by falsifying and fabricating data and claims about the purported cellular effects of electric and magnetic fields."

Dr. Liburdy resigned from his position as a cell biologist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory earlier this year. He has denied any wrongdoing but has agreed not to contest the findings of the government scientists and that he will not apply for federal funding for three years. Meanwhile, nearly two dozen other studies conducted in recent years have found no link between electric power lines and cancer, and many researchers now believe electromagnetic fields are safe.

Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reviewed and analyzed existing data on the issue several months ago and concluded the evidence of electric and magnetic fields around power lines causing cancer and other human disease is weak.  But the NIEHS report stopped short of stating there is definitely no link.  In fact, NIEHS noted there are some "lingering concerns" and efforts to reduce exposures should continue.

This issue is not easy for experts to assess for the public, said Michael Thun, MD, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research for the American Cancer Society (ACS). "Scientists have difficulty describing an appropriate level of concern for exposures like electromagnetic fields, because there are no tools to prove absolute safety, and scientists vary somewhat in how they interpret the same set of data," he said.

Dr. Thun concluded the new report provides a more accurate reflection of the situation. "The NIEHS report clarifies that the evidence linking electromagnetic fields and cancer is ?weak? -- not totally absent, but by no means persuasive nor even suggestive that power lines cause human cancer," he said.