A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Prenatal Exposure to Weak Magnetic Fields Leads to Childhood Asthma

First Prospective EMF Epidemiological Study Ever Done

Monday, August 1, 2011

A mother's exposure to weak power-frequency magnetic fields during pregnancy substantially increases the chances her child will develop asthma, according to a new study by De-Kun Li and coworkers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA. An average magnetic field exposure of just 2 mG (0.2 µT) during pregnancy more than triples the child's risk of getting asthma by the age of 13, they report in a paper released today by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association (AMA).

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European Study Reports No Brain Tumor Risk Among Young Cell Phone Users

Once Again, the Results Are Confusing

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Here's the golden rule for all cell phone cancer studies: Nothing comes easy.

The first study to look at brain tumors among children and teenagers who have used cell phones came out today and it shows no increased risk. Well, actually, the study, known as CEFALO, does indicate a higher risk —the problem is that it found a higher risk for all the kids who used a phone more than once a week for six months, regardless of how much time they spent on the phone. Because the risk does not go up with more use, the CEFALO team argues that the results argue against a true association.

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Cell Phones and Tumors: Mixed Signals as Epidemiologists Play Tit for Tat

Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Says ICNIRP

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Last updated September 25, 2013

The battle over Interphone continues. This time it's in full public view as key players publish papers detailing where they stand on cell phone tumor risks. There haven't been any big surprises since their opinions have long been known. Yet, the diametrically opposing views have led to conflicting stories in the media as each new study is released.

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IARC RF–Cancer Summary Published in Lancet Oncology

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A short summary of the IARC Working Group's decision to classify radiofrequency (RF) radiation as a "possible human carcinogen" (2B) was posted this morning on the Web pages of Lancet Oncology.

IARC has not paid for the two-page summary to be open access. [IARC later changed its mind and it is now a free download.]

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R.I.P. A.C.R.B.R.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Today, the Australian Centre for Radiofrequency Bioeffects Research (ACRBR) is closing its doors. The center has gone bust for the most commonplace reason: It ran out of cash.

To understand why no one wanted to give the ACRBR any more money —we concede that there hasn't been much around— you need only read the last couple of paragraphs of the last post by its outgoing executive director, Rodney Croft:

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Short Takes

NCI ‘Cancer Bioelectricity’ Conference

August 26, 2024

On September 12^th, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) will host a conference on cancer bioelectricity via Zoom. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Michael Levin, a professor of biology and biomedical engineering at Tufts University in Massachusetts, will be the keynote speaker.

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Another WHO RF Review Challenged

August 21, 2024

Last updated September 6, 2024

A third RF systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization’s EMF Project is under fire. This one is on RF–induced oxidative stress.

Last month, two other WHO reviews —on pregnancy outcomes and on tinnitus— were both called into question as critics called for them to be retracted.

A team of 14 from six countries, led by Felix Meyer of the German Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), identified 11,599 studies on oxidative stress in the frequency range 800-2450 MHz. They then eliminated 11,543 of them as not meeting their criteria for inclusion.

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Italy’s 6 V/m RF Limit at Risk

March 14, 2024

The International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) has written to Italian government officials to support the country’s strict 6 V/m RF exposure limit.

The letter, dated March 13, expresses “great concern” that the standard might be weakened. It is signed by Ronald Melnick, the chair of ICBE-EMF, and by Elizabeth Kelley, its managing director.

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“NTP Lite”: Update from Japan

March 12, 2024

The Japanese group running a partial repeat of the NTP RF cancer study has not observed genotoxic effects among male rats exposed to 900 MHz CDMA radiation at 4 W/Kg, according to a paper to be presented tomorrow at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Salt Lake City, UT (SOT2024).

The analysis of the cancer data is ongoing and will not be reported.

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Schwannoma Puzzle

September 14, 2023

Last updated September 16, 2023

Three medical doctors have published a case report of a 40-year-old Italian man who developed a tumor in his thigh, near where he “habitually” kept his smartphone in a trouser pocket.

The case was published at the end of August in Radiology Case Reports, a peer-reviewed, open access journal.

The tumor, a painless mass, gradually expanded in the man’s left thigh over a period of six months, they wrote.

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Korean NTP Lite: Progress Report

June 16, 2023

Last updated June 17, 2023

A Korean RF genotoxicology study —part of a joint project with Japan— has been delayed due to the unexpected death of four of the RF–exposed rats early in the accompanying two-year cancer experiment, according to Young Hwan Ahn of Ajou University medical school.

Ahn presented a progress report on the Korean arm of the project in Geneva last week at a meeting of the WHO EMF Project’s International Advisory Committee. Microwave News has obtained a copy of Ahn’s PowerPoint presentation.

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Hot new papers & articles

“Investigation of Bias Related to Differences Between Case and Control Interview Dates in Five Interphone Countries,” Annals of Epidemiology, December 2016. This new analysis found “generally similar results” to the original Interphone study, but with “stronger positive associations among long-term users.”
“RF Radiation (900 MHz)-Induced DNA Damage and Cell Cycle Arrest in Testicular Germ Cells in Swiss Albino Mice,” Toxicology and Industrial Health, posted online October 13, 2016. “Induced oxidative stress causes DNA damage in germ cells, which alters cell cycle progression leading to low sperm count in mice.” These changes are reversible (from Assam University, India; open access).
“Brain Cancer Patients Survive Longer By Sending Electric Field Through Their Heads,” IEEE Spectrum, November 22, 2016. Novocure’s 200 kHz signals kept 43% of GBM patients alive compared to 30% on the standard treatment.
“The Intracranial Distribution of Gliomas in Relation to Exposure from Mobile Phones: Analysis from the Interphone Study,” American Journal of Epidemiology, posted online November 3, 2016. The latest analysis from Interphone. The same tensions continue with no clear consensus.
“Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research: A Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents,“ JAMA Internal Medicine, published online September 12, 2016. “This historical account of industry efforts demonstrates the importance of having reviews written by people without conflicts of interest and the need for financial disclosure.” From Stanton Glantz’s Center for Tobacco Research. Open access. More than 10 years ago the electric utility industry paid Leeka Kheifets $50,000 for a literature review.
“The Effects of RF EM Radiation on Sperm Function,” Reproduction, posted September 6, 2016. “We propose a mechanistic model in which RF-EMR exposure leads to defective mitochondrial function associated with elevated levels of ROS production…” From Australia, open access.
“Magnetite Pollution Nanoparticles in the Human Brain,” PNAS, posted online September 6, 2016. “This discovery is important because nanoscale magnetite can respond to external magnetic fields, and is toxic to the brain, being implicated in production of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS).” See also Newsweek story.
“Tumor Specific Frequencies and Ocular Melanoma,” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, posted online August 23, 2016. Sam Milham and David Stetzer point to a link between kHz signals from variable frequency drives on electric motors at an LNG plant and a cluster of a very rare cancer.
Video of presentation and discussion of the NTP RF study at the NTP Board of Counselors Meeting, June 2016. Also here. Mostly Michael Wyde’s talk with important comments by NTP Director Linda Birnbaum and Associate Director John Bucher. Birnbaum calls the link between RF and Schwannomas of the heart “unequivocally clear” (@43:20-minute mark). A few minutes later, she describes it as having a “beautiful dose-relationship.” Bucher talks about the continuity in the spectrum between hyperplasia and glioma.
“Smart Skin Enables Magnetoreception,” The Scientist, September 2016. “It would truly be a sixth-sense technology.”

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

First Prospective EMF Epidemiological Study Ever Done

Once Again, the Results Are Confusing

Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Says ICNIRP

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Hot new papers & articles

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