Development and evaluation of a location-specific wire code.

The development of a wire code protocol based on a study of electrical installations in Melbourne, Australia, is described. Because of very significant differences between the Melbourne power distribution system and that used in Denver, Colorado, an approach different from that used by Wertheimer and Leeper was required. A combined practical and theoretical approach was used to determine a continuous exposure index, defined as a measure of the potential for exposure due to external electrical installations. The protocol was tested on a convenient sample of 41 homes in which the field was monitored over a 12 hour overnight period. A correlation of 0.85 (95% CI 0.74-0.92, P < .0001) was obtained between the measured time-weighted average and the wire coding exposure index. To assess the efficacy of the wiring configuration index, a computer simulation of a case-control study was then performed. It was concluded that, using the same basic reasoning of the Wertheimer and Leeper code, it is possible to develop a location-specific code that provides a good correlation with the residential time-weighted average and an acceptable degree of exposure misclassification.