H
ARD EVIDENCE
an international working group of world-leading and widely respected scientists,researchers and public health policyprofessionals - concludes that there aremany biological effects at levels that arewell below current limits and that theexisting safety limits are inadequate toprotect public health.The BioInitiative Report states “it appearsit is the
INFORMATION
conveyed byelectromagnetic radiation (rather thanheat) that causes biological changes – some of these biological changes maylead to loss of wellbeing, disease andeven death”.The BioInitiative Report clearly states:
“the scientic evidence is sufcient
to warrant regulatory action for ELF;and it is substantial enough to warrant
preventative actions for RF”
.Conclusions in The BioInitiative Reportinclude:
elf emf
• there is little doubt that exposure toELF causes childhood leukemia.• there is some evidence that other childhood cancers may be related toELF exposure but not enough studieshave been done.• children who have leukemia and are inrecovery have poorer survival rates if their ELF exposure at home (or wherethey are recovering) is between 1mGand 2mG in one study; over 3mG inanother study.• studies of human breast cancer cellsand some animal studies show thatELF is likely to be a risk factor for breast cancer. There is supportingevidence for a link between breastcancer and exposure to ELF thatcomes from cell and animal studies,as well as studies of human breastcancers.• alzheimer’s disease is a disease of the nervous system. There is strongevidence that long-term exposure toELF is a risk factor for Alzheimer’sdisease.• oxidative stress through the actionof free radical damage to DNA is aplausible biological mechanism for cancer and diseases that involvedamage from ELF to the centralnervous system.
rf emf
• there is little doubt that electromagneticfields emitted by cell phones andcordless phones use affect electricalactivity in the brain.• people who have used a cell phone for ten years or more have more higher rates of malignant brain tumor andacoustic neuromas. It is worse if thecell phone has been used primarily onone side of the head.• people who have used a cordlessphone for ten years or more havehigher rates of malignant brain tumor an acoustic neuromas. It is worse if the cordless phone has been usedprimarily on one side of the head.
elf emf and rf emf
• both ELF and RF exposure can beconsidered genotoxic (will damageDNA) under certain conditions of exposure including exposure levelsthat are lower than existing safetylimits.• very low level ELF and RF exposurescan cause cells to produce stressproteins, meaning that the cellrecognizes ELF and RF exposuresas harmful.• there is substantial evidence that
ELF and RF can cause inammatory
reactions, allergy reactions andchange normal immune function atlevels allowed by current public safetystandards.• medical conditions are successfullytreated using EMFs at levels belowcurrent public safety standards,proving another way that the bodyrecognises and corresponds to low-intensity EMF signals. Otherwise,these medical treatments could notwork. The FDA has approved EMFsmedical treatment devices so is clearlyaware of this paradox.The BioInitiative Report recommends thatnew ELF limits are warranted based on apublic health analysis of the overall existing
scientic evidence.
Also included in the BioInitiative workinggroup’s report are recommendations:• that it is no longer acceptable to buildnew power lines and electrical facilitiesthat place people in ELF environmentsthat have been determined to be risky- these levels are in the 2 to 4mGrange.• while new ELF limits are beingdeveloped and implemented, areasonable approach would be a
1mG
planning limit for habitable spaceadjacent to all new or upgraded power lines and a
2mG
limit for all other newconstruction.• the occupation of seamstressdeserves attention in future studiesas seamstresses are in fact one of themost highly MF exposed occupationswith exposure levels generally above10mG (1.0µT) over a significantproportion of the workday. They alsohave been consistently found to be athigher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and(female) breast cancer.This next recommendation is based onthe assumption that “a higher burden of protection is required for children whocannot protect themselves, and who areat risk for childhood leukaemia at ratesthat are traditionally high enough to trigger regulatory action”:• a 1mG limit be established for existing
Typical example of a substation
VOL.8 #6 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 008
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