WARNING

Health: Next-up Organisation advises against using the rear right passenger seat in the Toyota Prius Hybrid.

Several vehicle manufacturers are currently facing various problems that require the recall of particular models, often in great numbers, where the electronic driving controls are affected by both low and high frequency electromagnetic fields.

What is rarely mentioned is the impact on the health of the vehicle occupants of the non-ionising radiation they are bathed in, generated by the electrical equipment or by high frequencies. 

Next-up Organisation therefore tested a sophisticated vehicle in various driving modes, a new Toyota Prius Hybrid recalled by a concessionaire in order to retune the ABS assisted braking system by changing the control program in the electronic unit (a fault that causes a slight delay - or complete loss! - of brake power).

In its issue no. 67 in 2002 the popular French science magazine Sciences et Avenir tested 60 cars for the magnetic fields affecting the passengers and presented "An unprecedented investigation that should prompt certain manufacturers to take action". [See the report below]

While taking readings of the overall EMF, a flow of LF magnetic radiation was observed in the rear right passenger seat. After cross-checking the measurements in the 3 polarisations it gave an average reading of 2491 nT (nanoTesla), or 24 mG (milliGauss).

Even if this figure is below the present European legal limits as defined by ICNIRP, it is a fact that this level, unheard of in a vehicle, exceeds by a long way the safety levels recommended by the international scientific community, such as those of the BioInitiative consortium, which are 1 mG for prolonged exposure in living areas or enclosed spaces (such as a vehicle) and 2 mG for exposure that is temporary or outdoors.

Consequently Next-up Organisation is issuing a warning to strongly discourage any passenger, especially on a long journey, from sitting in the rear right seat of a Prius Hybrid without having noted the strength of the magnetic field and considering its possible effects on their health.

Since this spot is just above the exit point of the power cables supplying electrical current from the well-insulated battery compartment, it seems that there is a gap just here in the protective shield.

Obviously Toyota can always claim that the level of the magnetic field as measured, even though it is exceptional, is still below the limit set by European regulations.

The unit of measurement of magnetic induction is the Tesla (T),
the milli Tesla (mT), micro Tesla (µT), nano Tesla (nT) and previously the Gauss (G):
- 1 T = 1 000 mT = 1 000 000 µT = 1 000 000 000 nT -
1 G = 10-4 T so 1 G = 100 µT and 1 mT = 10 G

- Earth's magnetic filed is from 24-45 µT
at the equator and from 62-70 µT at the poles.
This magnetic field does not upset living beings
because it is continuous and not alternating,
and therefore does not induce a current in any conducting medium.

Alternating electric current running through a conducting wire creates
an alternating magnetic field that can in turn induce another alternating current in another wire.
The current thus induced in the human body (since it is also a conductor)
may interfere with the currents already present and thus upset the functioning of the organism.