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 All electric motors can produce electromagnetic fields. If these
fields are strong enough, they have the potential to disrupt the
normal function of implanted heart devices, researchers note in the
Annals of Internal Medicine. Pacemaker malfunctions might cause the
heart to stop beating with potentially fatal results, while
defibrillators might respond to electromagnetic fields by delivering
unnecessary shocks to patients’ hearts, causing pain and anxiety.
For the study, researchers measured the magnetic field strength in
four electric cars with the largest market share in Europe: the BMW
i3, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 85S, and the Volkswagen e-up!
They also assessed how well pacemakers and defibrillators worked for
108 patients with these implanted cardiac devices who sat in the
cars during simulated driving and charging tests.
None of the cars appeared to interfere with patients’ heart devices,
the study found.
"Our study suggests that the electromagnetic fields generated by
electric cars do not cause malfunctions," said lead study author Dr.
Carsten Lennerz of the German Heart Center Munich and the German
Center for Cardiovascular Research.
While the results are promising, the designs of electric cars as
well as pacemakers and defibrillators are constantly changing and
it's possible what happened for the specific cars and heart devices
in the study might not reflect what every patient would experience,
Lennerz cautioned.
"Patients with pacemakers and defibrillators should see these
results as encouraging for their safety in electric cars, but should
be wary that rare events may still occur," Lennerz said by email.
It's possible that devices didn't malfunction in the study because
the car batteries, electric motors and other components have
electromagnetic shielding, Lennerz said by email. It's also possible
that the pacemakers and defibrillators have technology to help
prevent the devices from responding to any signals from the cars.
For the study, researchers asked patients with pacemakers and
defibrillators to sit in one of four different electric cars and to
charge the car’s battery using charging cables. Researchers measured
the magnetic field inside and next to the cars as they were operated
and next to the charging cables during charging.
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Researchers also monitored patients' pacemakers and defibrillators
for any indication of interference during the experiment.
The study, however, might not have been large enough to detect rare
problems or accurately reflect what might happen across a broad
population of people with heart problems who rely on pacemakers and
defibrillators, the authors note.
"It seems to be reassuring but when we consider that millions of
electric cars will be sold it is reasonable to think that larger
numbers of cardiac implanted electric device patients should be
studied," said Dr. Richard Sutton of Imperial College, London, in
the UK.
"If patients could not be near or travel in an electric car this
could be disastrous for patients but more so for the direction of
the auto-industry and for the potential benefits of reversing global
warming," Sutton, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
Sutton has received grant, consulting and speaking fees from several
major medical device companies.
Another drawback is that the battery power of electric cars might
increase in the future, making them more dangerous to these heart
patients, said Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy of the University of Kansas
Hospital in Kansas City.
"Over the last few decades we have learnt that very simple household
items like electric razors, blow dryers, microwaves, induction
ovens, etc., have shown to interfere with cardiac implanted
electrical device function," Lakkireddy, who wasn't involved in the
study, said by email.
"Patients should feel confident that the current generation electric
cars should not have any significant impact on their device
function," Lakkireddy added. 'However what is to happen when the
battery power that is packed inside these cars significantly
increases with time is yet to be well understood."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2HUsh6E and http://bit.ly/2HVK2T0 Annals of
Internal Medicine, online April 23, 2018.
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