The Essentials in 8 Videos

While biking under power lines, electrical charges can build up on your skin—that’s what we call static electricity. If you touch something, you might feel a small shock. It can be surprising, but don’t worry, it’s completely safe!

Duration: 2 minutes 33 seconds

Our planet is permanently immersed in a natural magnetic field generated by molten metals in the Earth's core. It’s a natural phenomenon we can observe in many ways. There are also alternative magnetic fields, such as those resulting from the presence of power lines or the daily use of common household appliances.

Duration: 5 minutes

The history of electricity in Québec began over a century ago. Since then, many questions have been raised about how electric and magnetic fields might affect our health. Scientific studies are reassuring in this regard.

Duration: 5 minutes 48 seconds

It is safe for citizens with cardiac implants to walk under high-voltage power lines. Due to the high fields that can be measured in substations and power plants, Hydro-Québec follows a well-established procedure to assess the safety of the workplace for employees with a pacemaker or an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

Duration: 5 minutes 46 seconds

The electric field of an alternating current line oscillates (goes back and forth) continuously at a frequency of 60 times per second (60 hertz). The electric field of a direct current line, however, stays in the same direction because the current flows the same way. In that case, it’s considered static.

Duration: 3 minutes 57 seconds

Unlike electric and magnetic fields at a frequency of 60 hertz (Hz), radio frequencies are electromagnetic waves that can travel much farther. As a result, their effects on the body, their units of measurement and their practical uses are different.

Duration: 3 minutes 32 seconds