Brain Diseases Affecting More People and Starting Earlier Than Ever Before

May 10, 2013 — Professor Colin Pritchard's latest research published in journal Public Health has found that the sharp rise of dementia and other neurological deaths in people under 74 cannot be put down to the fact that we are living longer. The rise is because a higher proportion of old people are being affected by such conditions -- and what is really alarming, it is starting earlier and affecting people under 55 years.

Of the 10 biggest Western countries the USA had the worst increase in all neurological deaths, men up 66% and women 92% between 1979-2010. The UK was 4th highest, men up 32% and women 48%. In terms of numbers of deaths, in the UK, it was 4,500 and now 6,500, in the USA it was 14,500 now more than 28,500 deaths.

Professor Pritchard of Bournemouth University says: "These statistics are about real people and families, and we need to recognise that there is an 'epidemic' that clearly is influenced by environmental and societal changes."

Tessa Gutteridge, Director YoungDementia UK says that our society needs to learn that dementia is increasingly affecting people from an earlier age: "The lives of an increasing number of families struggling with working-age dementia are made so much more challenging by services which fail to keep pace with their needs and a society which believes dementia to be an illness of old age."
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POTENZA PICENA RESOLUTION

On April 20th, 2013 the International congress of Potenza Picena entitled
“Radar, radiofrequency and health risk”,
reached the following conclusions:

• radars use pulsed radiofrequency that causes characteristic biological effects which are more invasive than non pulsed EMF;

• radiofrequency can cause structural changes in enzymes with time reactions of nanoseconds, while the pulsed radiofrequencies emitted by radars occur every milliseconds, thus suggesting that for every pulsing event several enzymatic changes occur;

• the pulsed signals can induce significant modifications on DNA regulations as an effect of the methylation of the genome;

• scientific literature concludes that biological/health effects can occur at low intensity exposure and chronic exposure can make a living organism more susceptible to the effect of the EMFs;

• ICEMS monograph (Eur. J. Oncol., 2010) concludes that there are non thermal mechanisms of action of EMF (including RF) on the living matter;

• experiments on cell cultured in residential areas in Potenza Picena showed that the radar signal activates apoptosis for short exposures and cell survival signal after 24 hours of exposure;

• preliminary results of animal experiments show that radiofrequency is a co-carcinogenic agent;

• radiofrequency induces oxidative stress processes in tissues and living organisms;

• different epidemiological studies show that there is a significant increase of health risks on the people exposed to pulsed radiofrequency and more studies need to be done to conclude especially about pulsed radiofrequency;

• scientific literature suggests that for EMF the precautionary principle should be internationally adopted;

Thus, stricter safety standards for EMF needs to be adopted by governments and public health agencies because the existing ones are obsolete and they are not based on recent literature about biological effects.
According to the precautionary principle RF sources should be reduced as low as possible because at now it is not possible to establish a safe limit under which no biological effects can be observed.
RF sources should be kept far from residential areas. For pulsed RF sources, such radars and Wi-Max antennas, the distance from the EMF source should be even greater because they cause more biologically effects than non pulsed signals.
Wi-Fi should not be placed in schools and in public areas since they have characteristics of pulsed signals.
The precautionary principle suggests to use special caution for the younger people and for susceptible such as those with Electromagnetic Hyper Sensitivity a condition growing in modern societies that makes people sick for exposure to EMF even at low level of intensity.

Signatories:
Prof. Massimo Scalia, physicist, CIRPS at University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
Dr. Eleonora Miranda, Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Council of Research, biologist, Bologna, Italy
Maurizio Brizzi, Associate Professor of Statistics, University of Bologna, Italy
Prof. Mario Barteri, chemist, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
Ian Marc Bonapace, Assistant Professor, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University Insubria, Busto Arsizio (Varese), Italy
Prof. Henry Lai, Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Dr. PhD Livio Giuliani, mathematician, University La Tuscia, Viterbo;
ICEMS spokesman Dr. Fiorenzo Marinelli, biologist, Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Council Bologna, Italy; Scientific Secreteriat, Member, ICEMS;
Olle Johansson, Associate Professor, Karolinska Institute, histology; cell biology; basic and applied neuroscience, Stockholm, Sweden
Dr. Michela Padovani, biologist, Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the Ramazzini Institute, Bologna, Italy
Prof. Dr. Nesrin Seyhan, biophysicist, Founding Chair, Biophysics Dept. of Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey; Founding Director, GNRK Center; Scientific Secreteriat Member, ICEMS; Advisory Committee Member, WHO EMF
Dr. Maurizio Fontana, physician, Genova, Italy
Mr. Örjan Hallberg, MSc Electrical Engineering, Hallberg Independent Research, Farsta, Sweden

Francesca Romana Orlando
Vice President of AMICA
Association for Chronic Chemical
and/or Environmental Injury

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr. 2, 2013 - BERKELEY, Calif. -- Eleven percent of American children have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) including nearly one in five high school age boys according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1)

Although we may be over-diagnosing ADHD and over-medicating children for this disorder, the 53 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses during the past decade may be attributable in part to increased exposure to environmental toxins in conjunction with exposure to microwave radiation from cell phones.

A research study published last week in the peer-reviewed journal, Public Library of Science (PLOS One), found that children exposed to lead who made more voice calls on their cell phone were at significantly greater risk of developing ADHD symptoms. Moreover, a significant dose-response relationship was observed between the number and duration of voice calls made on cell phones and ADHD risk among children exposed to lead in their environment. (2)

In this longitudinal study, 2,422 children at 27 elementary schools from 10 cities in South Korea were examined and followed up two years later. One fourth of the students were considered “lead-exposed,” defined as having a blood lead level of at least 2.35 micrograms per deciliter. (2) In the U.S., about 5% of children ages 6-11 have blood lead levels of 2.5 or higher. (3) Since there are currently 25.2 million children in this age group (4), about 1.3 million American children could be at risk of ADHD if they are heavier cell phone users.

In this longitudinal study, 2,422 children at 27 elementary schools from 10 cities in South Korea were examined and followed up two years later. One fourth of the students were considered “lead-exposed,” defined as having a blood lead level of at least 2.35 micrograms per deciliter. (2) In the U.S., about 5% of children ages 6-11 have blood lead levels of 2.5 or higher. (3) Since there are currently 25.2 million children in this age group (4), about 1.3 million American children could be at risk of ADHD if they are heavier cell phone users.

In the current study, heavier cell phone users either made 3 or more outgoing voice calls a day on average, spent a minute or more on calls, or logged 70 or more hours of calls in their lifetime. These children had 2-3 times the odds of developing ADHD symptoms as compared to other “lead-exposed” children who had minimal or no cell phone use.

The paper reviewed prior research which has shown (a) that exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields can increase cognitive impairment and behavioral disorders including hyperactivity; (b) that lead is a neurotoxin which can cause ADHD and other cognitive problems; and (c) that exposure to electromagnetic fields increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Thus, combining these two exposures, lead and cell phone radiation, could be a particularly toxic combination.

Prior studies conducted by researchers in Los Angeles have found increased behavioral problems reported by mothers of children in Denmark who were exposed to cell phone radiation pre- and post-natally. (5, 6)
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1Institut für Biologie, AG Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Strasse 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany

2Department Cellular Neurobiology, Schwann-Schleiden Centre for Molecular Cell Biology, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

e-mail: greggers@neurobiologie.fu-berlin.de

Abstract

Honeybees, like other insects, accumulate electric charge in flight, and when their body parts are moved or rubbed together. We report that bees emit constant and modulated electric fields when flying, landing, walking and during the waggle dance. The electric fields emitted by dancing bees consist of low- and high-frequency components. Both components induce passive antennal movements in stationary bees according to Coulomb's law. Bees learn both the constant and the modulated electric field components in the context of appetitive proboscis extension response conditioning. Using this paradigm, we identify mechanoreceptors in both joints of the antennae as sensors. Other mechanoreceptors on the bee body are potentially involved but are less sensitive. Using laser vibrometry, we show that the electrically charged flagellum is moved by constant and modulated electric fields and more strongly so if sound and electric fields interact. Recordings from axons of the Johnston organ document its sensitivity to electric field stimuli. Our analyses identify electric fields emanating from the surface charge of bees as stimuli for mechanoreceptors, and as biologically relevant stimuli, which may play a role in social communication.
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130528

Is modern life making us ill? Yes, say those who suffer from electrosensitivity. Are they cranks, or should we all be throwing away our mobile phones?

Tim Hallam is just tall enough to seem gangly. His height makes the bedroom feel even smaller than it is. Muddy sunlight filters through the grey gauze hung over his window. His narrow bed appears to be covered with a glistening silver mosquito net. The door and the ceiling are lined with tinfoil. Tim tells me there is also a layer of foil beneath the wallpaper and under the wood-effect flooring. He says, "The room is completely insulated; the edges are sealed with aluminium tape and connected with conducting tape so I could ground the whole room. It's a Faraday cage, effectively. Grounding helps with the low frequencies radiation, apparently. The high frequencies just bounce off the outside."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/29/electrosensitivity-is-technology-killing-us

Addicted to IT? You have nomophobia and could be damaging your health

The urge to log onto to social networking sites or constantly check email can be a stronger compulsion than the desire to take drugs or drink alcohol

The combination of Facebook and internet-connected smartphones can be highly addictive, outstripping even addictive drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, according to IT industry research.

In addition to smartphones' alleged addictive qualities, too much screen time can also cause mental and physical health problems. Aside from well-documented everyday conditions such as "text neck and "iPad shoulder", there are more serious consequences of the IT industry's having fulfilled its 20-year old promise of delivering anything, anywhere, anytime.
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From Virginia Farver, Fort Collins, CO, US
3-14-13

I lost my beautiful, 29-year-old son Rich to glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer on October 11, 2008.

Early in 2008, Rich was working as a teaching assistant in Political Science at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he had received his master’s degree. He was a very kind young man who would occasionally go golfing with the professors.

He was in the process of applying for law school, but had confided to me, “I don’t know that I can make it through law school because I can’t remember things.” He was having headaches, memory problems, nosebleeds and excessive sweating and fatigue. I had been noticing that something was off with him. He needed to sleep all the time. There was a blood vessel coming from the right side of his head through his hairline and protruding across this forehead. His girlfriend Jennifer told me he would sleep for hours, curled up like a cat during the day by the patio window. This was not like him

At the time of Rich’s GBM diagnosis in March 2008, Dr. V. Tantuwaya from Poway, CA told us that his cell phone was the culprit. Rich's tumor was located in his right frontal lobe and he was right-handed. This is referred to as an ipsilateral tumor, one on the same side as where the phone was held.
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Parents urged to limit children's use of mobiles, cordless phone under new health warnings

PARENTS should limit kids' use of mobile and cordless phones, Australia's radiation watchdog recommends in new health advice.

The Federal Government's Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) also suggests that baby monitors be kept a metre away from cots, to minimise any electromagnetic emissions.

"Due to the lack of scientific evidence on mobile and cordless phone use by children, ARPANSA recommends that parents encourage their children to limit their exposure,'' the agency states in its first "fact sheet'' for consumers to reduce exposure from wireless devices including mobile phones.

"One way to exercise caution is to reduce unnecessary exposure from your handset and to encourage your children to do this.
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Israeli scientists find possible link between cellphone use, thyroid cancer

Findings are 'first evidence of changes in thyroid cells in response to electromagnetic radiation' says researcher, 'but drawing sweeping conclusions ... is still far off.

Israeli scientists have reported preliminary findings of a possible link between the radiation from cellphones and thyroid cancer. There has been a steep rise in rates of thyroid cancer in recent years in Western countries...
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http://www.emfacts.com/2013/03/israeli-scientists-find-possible-link-between-cellphone-...

Public Health minister Laurette Onkelinx has announced that sales of mobile phones to children under 7 years will be banned in shops and also on the internet.
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Research review finds evidence of neurodegenerative effects from electrical exposure.

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 25, 2013 - A review of 42 studies of occupational exposure to electric and magnetic fields (MF) and neurodegenerative diseases found "moderately increased risk" for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Although little evidence was found for other neurodegenerative diseases including dementia and multiple sclerosis, few studies had been conducted on these diseases.

The paper concludes, “We observed moderate associations between indicators of occupational MF exposure … and AD,” but the Abstract states, “We found weak associations for occupational MF exposure proxies with AD.”

Despite statistically significant findings, the authors argued that, “Our results do not support MF as the explanation for observed associations ... Because the associations we observed indicate potential risks but are far from decisive, we suggest that improved studies are needed.”

That this paper downplayed the risks of MF exposure is not surprising because the study was sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a nonprofit organization funded by the electrical utility industry. The paper’s first author, Ximena Vergara, is an EPRI employee, and the other authors are academics whose research has been supported by EPRI.

But even if there had been no conflicts of interest, scientists rarely assert they have conclusive evidence. In fact, such assertions are generally antithetical to scientific inquiry, which is typically a never-ending process that calls for more research.

Because policy makers generally desire conclusive evidence before taking action, major delays typically occur before people are protected from emerging health risks like tobacco or asbestos, especially when diseases occur only after prolonged exposure as in the case of neurodegenerative disease or cancer.

In 2001, a group of experts convened by the World Health Organization reviewed the research on magnetic fields, and determined it “possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).” Now, almost twelve years later, a group of researchers comes to a similar conclusion with regard to certain neurodegenerative diseases.

Most of the studies reviewed were conducted in the U.S. and Nordic countries. For ALS, the association with MF exposure was stronger in studies based upon the job title (e.g., electrical technician). Overall, these studies found 43% increased risk of ALS. For AD, the association with MF was stronger in studies that directly measured MF exposure. Overall, these studies found 58% increased risk for AD.

Many nations, especially in Europe, and at least one city in the U.S. (San Francisco) follow the precautionary principle. This principle, developed at a U.N. environmental conference in 1992, states that in the absence of scientific consensus if an action has a suspected risk of causing harm, the burden of proof it is not harmful falls on those taking the action, and all reasonable measures to reduce the risk must be taken.

The precautionary principle does not require us to abandon technologies that emit magnetic fields (e.g., electricity) or radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (e.g. cell phones, Wi-Fi, and Smart Meters) which are also considered “possibly carcinogenic” by the World Health Organization. Rather, we need to implement these technologies in a responsible manner to minimize potential harm to humans and other species.

We need to develop and support scientific communities that are completely independent of industry to develop safer technologies and find safer ways to employ current technologies. Moreover, we need policy makers with the courage to stand up to industry and adopt precautionary safety regulations that protect the health of workers and the public, not just the health of industries.

The review paper was published in the February issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Consumer Safety from magnetic fields

Some utility companies claim they follow a precautionary approach. PG&E, for example, states that it follows the precautionary guidelines recommended by the Swedish government: “If measures to reduce exposure can be taken at reasonable expense and with reasonable consequences in all other aspects, an effort should be made to reduce fields radically deviating from what could be deemed normal in the environment.” www.av.se/dokument/inenglish/broschures/adi_478.pdf

PG&E periodically informs its customers about devices with strong magnetic fields (e.g., hair dryers, electric ranges, and microwave ovens) in a fact sheet that contains tips about how to reduce exposure:

Read more
http://www.prlog.org/12087069-exposure-to-electricity-may-increase-risk-for-alzheimers-...

Detection and Learning of Floral Electric Fields by Bumblebees

Abstract

Insects use several senses to forage, detecting floral cues such as color, shape, pattern, and volatiles. We report a formerly unappreciated sensory modality in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), detection of floral electric fields. These fields act as floral cues, which are affected by the visit of naturally charged bees. Like visual cues, floral electric fields exhibit variations in pattern and structure, which can be discriminated by bumblebees. We also show that such electric field information contributes to the complex array of floral cues that together improve a pollinator's memory of floral rewards. Because floral electric fields can change within seconds, this sensory modality may facilitate rapid and dynamic communication between flowers and their pollinators.
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Powerwatch Comments on Rubin et al study

Excerpt from Electrical Hypersensitivity 8 © Alasdair and Jean Philips

There are a number of problems with this study that will contribute to the “no evidence”
conclusions.

SNIP

Thirdly, and probably the most important problem was due to the design of the MTHR (UK Govt
Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research) handset that was used in the tests.
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CELLPHONE research points to increased brain tumour risk: Some NZ teens in high-risk category

18 February 2013, Wellington, New Zealand.

•6% of New Zealand mid-teens at increased risk of brain tumour from cellphone/cordless phone use.
•Cordless phones are a type of cellphone with the base- transmitter in the home.
•Nearly ¼ of 10-13 year olds spend 30 minutes or more on wireless phones daily.
•NZ lags behind in cautioning the young about cellphone use
•Study highlights the need to caution heavy cell/cordless phone users.

A Victoria University of Wellington researcher has found that some New Zealand adolescents are heavy users of both cellphones and cordless phones. Mary Redmayne’s paper, “New Zealand adolescents’ cellphone and cordless phone user habits: are they at an increased risk of brain tumours already? A cross sectional study” has recently been published in the journal of Environmental Health.

Mary points out that there has recently been a rapid increase in use of these wireless phones among adolescents’. There is also growing concern among scientists and health professionals internationally that there may be a corresponding link to adverse health risks, especially amongst those with the highest use.

Cellphones and cordless phones operate in a similar fashion and both emit pulsed microwaves (also called radiofrequencies). There is significant evidence that heavy cellphone and cordless phone use over a number of years increases the risk of brain tumours.

Very few studies have been done on adolescents uses of wireless phones. Adolescents’ thinner skulls and developing brains are two reasons that scientists and health professionals are voicing concern. This has led several countries such as Israel, France, Russia and Switzerland to issue governmental warnings about cellphone use by children and teenagers.

Mary Redmayne’s study is an important addition to this debate.

In mid-2009, Mary asked 373 school students aged 10 to 13 within the Wellington region about their cellphone and cordless phone user-habits. While average use was low to moderate, some spent hours a day on them. Combined with night time proximity and exposure, a revealing pattern emerged.

Two-thirds of student cellphone owners kept their cellphone beside the bed at night, an additional 12% kept it under the pillow. Many of these kept it switched on overnight, with more than a third being woken by it at least weekly. Being woken at night was reflected in being chronically tired at school.

Students who kept the cellphone turned on and with them at night tended to also carry them in a pocket during the day. The fine print of virtually every cell phone manual states that the cell phone should be kept at least 2.5cm from the human body.

When asked about this, Mary pointed out that, “The amount of exposure increases dramatically as the phone comes close to the head or body.” Since her study smartphones have grown in popularity. She said, “It is important to realise that if these are left with functions such as Twitter and Facebook active the phone will be transmitting almost continuously, so exposure if one is kept in a pocket will be much higher than on standby. An advisable precautionary step is to avoid carrying the phone in a pocket while it is turned on, and especially when connected to social networking sites, to avoid possible damage to vulnerable cells during times of growth.”

In 2011, the WHO and its cancer research arm IARC brought together 31 international scientists who concluded that radiofrequency radiation from cellphones and other radiofrequency transmitting devices is a class 2B carcinogen.

Two of the major works they relied on for this classification were the studies of a Swedish group led by Lennart Hardell and the results of the 10 year, 13-country Interphone study on cellphones. The Interphone study found that those with highest cellphone use, more than 1,640 hours in total, had an increased risk for brain tumours. A Swedish study showed that this risk is greater for heavy users when first exposure is before the age of 20, and increased with exposure before the age of 16.

What is important about the New Zealand Redmayne study is that it includes both cellphone and cordless phone use. One of the most disturbing statistics she found was that 6% of young people in her study were very heavy users, of both phones. This year marks four years since the survey bringing the average age of participants to 16. At their reported rate of use, they will this year, already be in a category of increased risk for brain tumours as reported in the Hardell and Interphone studies.
Read more
http://de.scribd.com/doc/125905843/New-Zealand-Study-of-Wireless-Phone-Use-by-Teenagers

Vital reading if you want to protect your child's health

Cringleford Primary School in Norwich is due to move into brand new buildings over the summer of 2013. Like many other councils and schools, Norfolk County Council are continuing to spend public money to irradiate the children in their care with WiFi all day every day. It is not that they are installing WiFi badly - it is that they are installing it at all, especially in primary schools. The new primary school will be irradiated by up to 19 wireless Access Points.

We believe that this is a misguided choice that is damaging the health and well-being of at least some of the children. There is no way parents can choose to opt out.
Parents can, and should in our opinion, opt out of exposing their children to WiFi, DECT cordless phones which transmit 24-7, Xboxes, PlayStations, Wii, etc, when they are at home.

This news story will give you some of our evidence and reasons for believing such exposure will adversely affect children. At present there is no good evidence that wireless devices, though fun to use, are better educationally than using wire-networked computers that do not expose the children to pulsing microwaves all day.
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http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20130214-norwich-wifi.asp

Franz Adlkofer

Alexander Lerchl wrote an open letter to Niels Kuster, co-author of the EU-funded REFLEX study, in which he repeats his allegation that the REFLEX results are based on forgery [1]. Of course, there are special reasons for his new attack. Recently, a German district court in Hamburg decided in a suit filed by Franz Adlkofer against the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) that the results of the REFLEX study must be regarded as being confirmed by a series of other studies (Az.: 324 O 255/12). That the SZ got involved at all has to be attributed solely to Lerchl, who supplied the newspaper with unfounded information. And it was the SZ’s mistake to join Lerchl’s German-wide media campaign against the REFLEX study in 2011 without having checked the truth of his statements. Now, Lerchl’s new attack that prompted Niels Kuster to confirm the successful reproduction of the REFLEX data once again comes close to running amok. Whether his frantic handling of the matter can convince the SZ to strive for a revision of the court decision, remains to be seen.

This is the story behind:

In mid-2007, at that time already known as the telecommunication industry’s lobbyist for science, Lerchl in an apparently concerted action informed the rector of the Medical University of Vienna (MUV), Wolfgang Schütz, about his suspicion that the REFLEX results obtained at the MUV might have been fabricated. Misusing his position and probably in agreement with the Austrian telecommunication industry, Schütz did not shy away from having Lerchl’s suspicion confirmed in a pseudo-investigation. Quite obvious, both gentlemen worked at withdrawing the results of the REFLEX study from the scientific literature, and they accepted as well that the scientific reputation of the responsible researchers would be destroyed. The REFLEX findings were not only in sharp opposition to the interests of the telecommunication industry, but they were also the basis of another research application to the EU Commission. The application, which had received high scores from the reviewers and had been recommended for funding, was obviously a special threat to the industry. That was most probably the main reason why Lerchl was called in, so that he – supported by Schütz – settles the problem. And so he did.

Three years after the REFLEX study was finished Lerchl invented the story of a scientific misconduct at MUV. The intrigues he and Schütz then applied to reach their goal have been described in detail [2,3]. It took indeed a while until the editors of the two scientific journals, which had published the REFLEX data, recognized that they had been chosen to execute the wishes of the telecommunication industry. At the end, however, they relied more on their own judgment and on the trustworthiness of the authors and, thus, rejected the withdrawal demanded by Lerchl and Schütz. Lerchl’s claim that they had failed as editors due to lack of competence did rather convince them to have decided correctly. His arguments, however, are completely unfounded. He establishes links that do not exist and imagines events that never took place. But above all, he hides the true motives, which made him use methods that do not comply at all with the ethics he is always keen to refer to. Evidence for this ruthless attitude is also provided by his most recent attacks on Lennart Hardell, who showed an increase of brain tumours in long-term users of mobile phones in his epidemiologic studies. Soon, we will report on this.
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Hong Kong
Mobile phone antennae removed from university over cancer risk fears

Campus dwellers assured radiation exposure 'extremely low', but not all are convinced

The University of Science and Technology has taken steps to ease fears among academics and students about a potential cancer risk from a proliferation of mobile phone antennae on campus building rooftops.

A memo was sent out to all staff and students after the Sunday Morning Post reported last weekend that mobile phone companies had paid the university to erect an estimated 87 antennae on the rooftops of residential and student blocks.

Teachers living on campus said workmen had been seen in the days after the story appeared, removing some antennae from blocks where there was a particularly high concentration of masts.
Read more
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1142176/mobile-phone-antennae-removed-univer...

Woman, 51, spends up to 15 hours a day in a Faraday cage because she claims she is intolerant to modern technology

Velma made her own Faraday cage for £300 that she claims filters out pulsed electro-magnetic waves
Says she suffers agonising head and nerve pain, memory loss, tinnitus, ectopic heart beats, vertigo and aching joints if she goes near mobile phones, WiFi and satnavs

Electrosensitivity is a controversial condition. HPA say there is no scientific evidence linking ill health with electrical equipment
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2236215/Woman-51-spends-15-hours-day-a-Farada...
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by Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan. 24, 2013 - The 750-page volume, “Late Lessons from Early Warnings,” includes twenty new case studies and has major implications for policy, science and society. Although the report was prepared by the European Environment Agency to provide guidance to the EU nations, its implications are global. (1)

Brain tumor risk associated with cell phone use is addressed in one of the report's chapters. (2) The report highlights the classification of this form of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) as "possibly carcinogenic", or cancer causing, by the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2011.

The research that has found increased brain tumor risk associated with long term mobile phone use is reviewed. The authors note that governments and industry have been slow to respond to the WHO’s precautionary warnings and urges policy makers to respond to early warnings more quickly. It argues that industries that cause future harm must pay for the damage and suggests that taking early precautions can stimulate rather than stifle innovation.

The report accuses the mobile phone industry of “inertia in considering the various studies and taking the IARC carcinogenic classification into account,” criticizes the media for not “providing the public with robust and consistent information on potential health risks,” and attacks governments for shirking “their responsibilities to protect public health from this widespread source of radiation.”

Although the report acknowledges the many benefits of mobile phones to society, it recommends the need for precautionary actions to reduce cell phone radiation exposures to minimize the extent and seriousness of the risks to the brain and other organs.

The report makes four specific recommendations about cell phones:

a. Governments, the mobile phone industry, and the public should take all reasonable measures to reduce EMR exposure, especially from mobile phones, particularly exposure to children and young adults who are likely most at risk for brain and salivary gland tumors. The report recommends texting, use of hands-free sets, and improved design of phones which generate less radiation and make hands-free use more convenient.

b. Governments should reconsider the scientific basis for the present exposure standards “which have serious limitations such as reliance on the contested thermal effects paradigm; and simplistic assumptions about the complexities of radio frequency exposures.”

c. Mobile phones should be required to have effective labeling and warnings about potential risks for users.

d. Adequate funding should be provided for the “urgently needed research into the health effects of phones” and base stations. Funding could include industry grants and a small fee on the purchase and/or use of mobile phones.

It is time for the U.S. to end its two decades of denial and assume a leadership role in adopting precautionary measures to reduce the potential harms associated with exposure to mobile phone radiation. Otherwise we may face a steep price in terms of preventable health care costs, lost productivity, and reduced quality of life. A nickel a month collected on each cell phone subscription would generate sufficient funds for the U.S. to undertake the needed training and research to head off this potential epidemic. (3)
Read more
http://www.prlog.org/12065677-call-for-action-to-reduce-harm-from-mobile-phone-radiatio...