| Medical Hypotheses (2004) 62, 195-197 Medical Hypotheses http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/mehy A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)Robert C. Kane, Ph.D. Summary © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Prior to the twentieth century the only sources of radiofrequency (RF) radiation were the hyper-low levels of RF energy originating from our sun and the even lower levels of extra-solar RF noise. It is in this environment of low-level RF radiation that life on earth developed and exists to this day. During the 1940s, primarily as a result of research and development performed as a part of the war effort, industry and the military establishment were successful in bringing the state of RF energy generation to maturity. From that time onward we have witnessed a broad range of commercial RF energy product applications including, most notably, broadcast FM radio, radar, television, public-service mobile communication transceivers, residential microwave ovens, and the portable cellular telephone. Initially, the contribution of each radiating device was imperceptible when weighed against the background of incoming solar radiation. However, over the span of decades the number of terrestrial RF radiation sources, now counted in the billions, has increased to the degree that, presently, the base radiation level is many thousands of times higher than from solar RF energy impinging on the earth. Notwithstanding the proliferation of RF radiation sources during the early decades of the "radiofrequency age", the 1940s through the 1970s, humans were seldom exposed to RF radiation at levels that might cause concern. Since the late 1970s a number of commercial products have become ubiquitous, which provide human exposures to levels of RF radiation that are significantly higher than either of the previous or present background levels. Research reports indicate that RF exposure levels, typically encountered from some commercial products, may induce alterations of biological processes or damage to the genome 1 — 13. Concurrently the incidence of autism diagnoses demonstrates a pronounced, approximately linear, order of magnitude increase occurring during the last twenty years 14. For several decades prior to 1980 autism incidence remained essentially invariant; reportedly at about one diagnosed case per 2000 children. Byrd has reported a present autism incidence of about one per 700 children. Hypothesis RF radiation sources have become commonplace in the personal human environment from approximately 1980 to the present. Operation of an RF radiation source such as a two-way radio, portable telephone, or a cell phone exposes the operator to levels of RF radiation shown to be biologically active. Operation of an RF radiation source also exposes others, in the near proximity, to similarly biologically active levels of electromagnetic field intensities 15. Passive operation, such as from an RF emitting baby monitor, is a widespread postnatal exposure. Some of the known effects of exposure to RF radiation include cognitive impairment 16, memory deficit 17, EEG modifications 18, DNA damage 3 - 12, chromosome aberrations 6, micronucleus formation 7, 22, fetal malformation 1, 2, increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier 19, 23, altered cellular calcium efflux 20 and altered cell proliferation 21. RF radiation emissions from residential microwave ovens are, typically, on the order of 1 milli-watt per cm2. RF radiation exposures from cell phones range from about 0.1 to 10.0 milli-watt per cm2. Portable two-way radios provide similar exposure levels. The scientific literature confirms that RF radiation exposures, at levels more than 1,000 times lower than described immediately preceding, or on the order of 1.0 micro-watt per cm2, induce significant changes in biological processes or molecular repair mechanisms 12. During gestation the possibility of unobservable embryonic and fetal damage is increased as mothers-to-be utilize and are exposed to the emissions from RF radiation devices. Researchers have emphatically reported that an embryo or fetus should not be exposed to radiofrequency radiation such as that emitted by the portable cell phone or portable telephone. One particular reason to avoid RF radiation exposure during pregnancy is that an embryo or fetus may not be fully protected by amniotic fluid for extended periods of time due to the natural movement of the embryo or fetus within the womb. Secondly, the pelvic structure promotes deep RF radiation penetration and that radiation can be absorbed within the developing embryo or fetus. 1 Berman E, Kinn JB, and Carter HB, Observations of mouse fetuses after irradiation with 2.45 GHz microwaves, Health Physics, 35, pp. 791-801, 1978. 2 Kaplan J, Polson P, Rebert C, Lunan K, and Gage M, Biological and behavioral effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to 2450-MHz electromagnetic radiation in the squirrel monkey, Radio Science, 17(5S), pp. 135S-144S, 1982. 3 Sagripanti JL, and Swicord ML, DNA structural changes caused by microwave radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 50(1), pp. 47-50, 1986. 4 Leszczynski D, Joenväärä S, Reivinen J, and Kuokka R. Non-thermal activation of the hsp27/p38MAPK stress pathway by mobile phone radiation in human endothelial cells: Molecular mechanism for cancer and blood-brain barrier-related effects, Differentiation, 70, pp. 120 — 129, 2002. 5 Sagripanti JL, Swicord ML, and Davis CC, Microwave effects on plasmid DNA, Radiation Research 110, pp. 219-231, 1987. 6 Fucic A, Garaj-Vrhovac V, Skara M, and Dimitrovic B, X-rays, microwaves and vinyl chloride monomer: their clastogenic and aneugenic activity, using the micronucleus assay on human lymphocytes, Mutat Res 282(4), pp. 265-271, 1992. 7 Maes A, Verschaeve L, Arroyo A, De Wagter C, and Vercruyssen L, In vitro cytogenetic effects of 2450 MHz waves on human peripheral blood lymphocytes, Bioelectromagnetics 14(6), pp. 495-501, 1993. 8 Sarkar S, Ali S, and Behari J, Effect of low power microwave on the mouse genome: a direct DNA analysis, Mutat Res 320, (1-2), pp. 141-147, 1994. 9 Lai H, and Singh NP, Acute low-intensity microwave exposure increases DNA single-strand breaks in rat brain cells, Bioelectromagnetics, 16(3), pp. 207-210, 1995. 10 Lai H, and Singh NP, Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, Int J Radiat Biol, 69(4), pp. 513-521, 1996. 11 Repacholi MH, Basten A, Gebski V, Noonan D, Finnie J, and Harris AW, Lymphomas in E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice exposed to pulsed 900 MHz electromagnetic fields. Radiat Res, 147(5), pp. 631-640, 1997. 12 Phillips JL, Ivaschuk O, Ishida-Jones T, Jones RA, Campbell-Beachler M, and Haggren W, DNA damage in Molt-4 T-lymphoblastoid cells exposed to cellular telephone radiofrequency fields in vitro, Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics, 45, pp. 103-110, 1998. 13 Hardell L, Hansson Mild K, Pahlson A, Hallquist A, Ionizing radiation, cellular telephones and the risk of brain tumours. Europ J Cancer Prevent 10, pp. 523-529, 2001. 14 Byrd RS, Sigman M. Bono M, et al, Report to the legislature on the principal findings from the epidemiology of autism in California: a comprehensive pilot study, M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis, 2002 15 Bawin SM, Kaczmarek LK, and Adey WR, Effects of modulated VHF fields on the central nervous system, Ann NY Acad. Sci, 247, pp. 74-81, 1975. 16 Chiang H, Yao GD, Fang QS, Wang KQ, Lu DZ, Zhou YK, Health effects of environmental electromagnetic fields. J. Bioelectricity 8:127-131, 1989. 17 Lai H, Horita A, and Guy AW, Microwave irradiation affects radial-arm maze performance in the rat, Bioelectromagnetics 15(2), pp. 95-104, 1994. 18 von Klitzing L, Low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields influence EEG of man, Phys. Medica, 11, pp. 77-80, 1995. 19 Salford LG, Brun A, Sturesson K, Eberhardt JL, and Persson BR, Permeability of the blood-brain barrier induced by 915 MHz electromagnetic radiation, continuous wave and modulated at 8, 16, 50, and 200 Hz. Microsc Res Tech, 27(6), pp. 535-542, 1994. 20 Paul Raj R, Behari J, and Rao AR, Effect of amplitude modulated RF radiation on calcium ion efflux and ODC activity in chronically exposed rat brain, Indian J Biochem Biophys, 36(5), pp. 337-340, 1999. 21 Cleary SF, Du Z, Cao G, Liu LM, and McCrady C, Effect of isothermal radiofrequency radiation on cytolytic T lymphocytes, FASEB J , 10(8), pp. 913-919, 1996. 22 d'Ambrosio G, Massa R, Scarfi MR, and Zeni O, Cytogenetic damage in human lymphocytes following GMSK phase modulated microwave exposure. Bioelectromagnetics, 23, pp. 7-13, 2002. 23 Persson BR, Salford LG, and Brun A, Blood-brain barrier permeability in rats exposed to electromagnetic fields used in wireless communication, Wireless Network 3, pp. 455-461, 1997. 24 Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, Bove F, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P., Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey Investigation, Pediatrics, 108 (5), pp. 1155-1161, Nov. 2001. 25 Taylor B, Miller E, Farringdon et al, MMR Vaccine and Autism: No Epidemiological Evidence for a Causal Association, Lancet, 353, pp. 2026-2029, 1999. 26 Chakrabarti S, & Fombonne E, Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Preschool Children, JAMA, 285 (24), 2001. | |
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times.CDC Study Expected to Announce 1 in 100 Autism Rate—A Startling 50% Jump in Just Two Years. Evidence Points to an Environmental Trigger.
December 16, 2009
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/cdc-study-expected-to-announce-1-in-100-autism-ratea-startling-50-jump-in-just-/comments/page/2/#comments
Atlanta, GA – Researchers report that autism has risen to an epidemic rate of 1 in 100 children in a study to be released on Friday by the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network office of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), This rate represents a 50% increase between the two birth cohort years of 1994 and 1996 and mirrors a recent study released by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which found a rate of 1 in 91 children, 1 in 58 boys.
In 2007, the ADDM released a similar study conducted in 2002 examining children born in 1994 that found the autism rate to be 1 in 150. In the study to be released Friday, the CDC looked at children born in 1996 (8 years old in 2004) and determined that there was a substantial increase of 50% between those two birth years.
This study and other recently published research clearly indicate that autism cannot solely be caused by genetic differences because it is impossible for genetic diseases to increase at such astronomical rates. It also cannot be explained by better diagnosing, changes in diagnostic criteria or migration patterns. It is clearly triggered by the environment. It's well past time that CDC and NIH treat the autism epidemic with the national emergency status it deserves and act with crisis level response.
Though alarming, researchers MUST acknowledge the obvious trend and its connection to the environment to help children. This conclusion is supported by an NIH funded study released earlier this year by the UC Davis M.I.N.D, Institute which "found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted — and the trend shows no sign of abating." The study's lead investigator, Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto , a professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher, added, "It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California."
The two ADDM reports from 1994 and 1996 birth years provide autism researchers a significant investigative clue by narrowing the years needed to investigate what changed in the environment to trigger such an increase in autism in such a short time frame.
The skyrocketing increase in autism in the 1990's and 2000's came at a time when mercury emissions have been increasing worldwide, the content of mercury in infant vaccines more than tripled, and the number of vaccines given to children went from 18 shots to 36 shots today. Now, it is determined that autism increased at an incredible 50% between 1994 and 1996 at the same time that the uptake rate of the Hepatitis B vaccine among infants accelerated immensely. This vaccine series added 62.5 more micrograms of mercury to babies, putting them over the the dose considered safe by the EPA for an average weight infant.
The Hepatitis B vaccine at birth has also received sharp criticism from advocates after a recent study by Laura Hewitson, University of Pittsburgh, which found that infant macaques given the Hep B birth dose, adjusted for macaque weight, showed statistically significant developmental delays.
SafeMinds calls on the CDC and the National Institutes of Health Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) to close vaccine safety research gaps identified by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) in an independent and transparent manner. We ask that the government appropriate money immediately to compare ALL health outcomes among fully vaccinated children with those of unvaccinated children. Incredibly, such a study has never been done for any single vaccine nor the entire vaccine schedule collectively and has now been officially identified as a vaccine safety gap by NIH's own scientific advisory committee, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC).
The
They stated that the
Additionally, SafeMinds calls on the IACC and National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to initiate research using existing data from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to facilitate the establishment of reference ranges for mercury and other developmental toxicants, especially for vulnerable subgroups like women of child-bearing age and young children. Such a study could look for associations between higher body burdens of toxicants and a range of childhood health outcomes could help to assess levels of exposure that are unsafe, and could help set research priorities for toxicants which have the greatest potential to diminish human health. This information would facilitate the type of cause and treatment oriented research that is so desperately needed.
SafeMinds is a charitable non-profit and leader in funding and advancing the science regarding mercury exposure as it relates to autism. Our expertise extends beyond mercury-related exposures to broader vaccine safety issues, as many of our Board Members hold government agency committee positions such as the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, various CDC Vaccine Committees, the Department of Defense Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Program and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee's Vaccine Safety Working Group.
Submitted by - Una St.Clair-Moniz
Citizens for Safe Technology
Readers comments:
What people need to be thinking is, what is the number now?
They need to look at the 2004 birth cohort. My second child was born in 2004. He is not autistic... but a CRAP TON of his friend are.
History WILL show that autism rate in the 2004 cohort are in the 1 in 25 ball park.
Mark my words.
Posted by: Jenny W | December 16, 2009 at 09:42 PM
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Yes, Jenny W. I'm sure it's now much more than 1 in 100. Out of the 9 kids on my street whom I know, 2 are autistic, and 2 have ADHD/sensory disorders. So on my street, autism is 2 in 9, or 1 in 4.5.
Posted by: kristina | December 17, 2009 at 12:42 AM
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The fact that these bad news are being embargoed and given in slow-release caplet form tells a lot about the intent to missinform and confuse the population. In contrast, stories about the latest H1N1 somewhat related death is published on first page on Monday if need to be.
At the end you can try to put an embargo around that mountain but that won't hide it. It's not only that 1 out of 100 kids has autism, the story is much worse. On a hypothetical american classroom with 100 kids showing normal averages for certain conditions (text in parenthesis comes from different "official" websites, not from "hysterical parent" blogs):
1 kid would have autism (as per CDC)
9 would have ADD/ADHD
9 would have asthma (prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994. Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994 - source American academy of allergy, asthma and immunology)
4 kids would have food allergies (according to the CDC, more children than ever are being diagnosed with allergies. It has been reported that about 3 million children in the U.S. have a food or digestive allergy, which represents an 18% increase over the past 10 years)
1 kid would have diabetes (The Centers for Disease Control report that diabetes is ranked as one of the leading chronic illnesses for younger children and teens. Normally when children get diabetes, it is Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes. Yet in the past 20 years, this has been changing. Type 2 diabetes, traditionally called adult-onset diabetes, is increasing in incidence in the United States).
No kid would have leukemia but the increase in rates is worrying enough to parents (Over the past 20 years, there has been some increase in the incidence of children diagnosed with all forms of invasive cancer, from 11.5 cases per 100,000 children in 1975 to 14.8 per 100,000 children in 2004)
If you work for the CDC and you connect the dots, as I'm sure they have, you'd want to hide yourself too under the embargo. XXI century medical science is proving to be a crying shame. For the first time in history, you can safely say that at least with regards to children's health we were better off 40 years ago.
Posted by: we shall overcome | December 17, 2009 at 09:44 AM
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I agree that mercury is a terrible substance to be injecting into children. I believe that it is part of the autism problem but, I think you are missing the most significant cause - cell phones, DECT cordless phones, WiFi,DECT baby monitors, wireless devices, broadcasting antennas and other emitters of electro magnetic radiation (EMR).
Mercury has been used widely for many years but the increase in autism has only occurred during the time that electro magnetic radiation has increased (by millions of times higher), during the last thirty years!
If you look at the Bio Initiative Report - www.bioinitiative.org you will see many scientific reports linking serious adverse health effects to EMR exposure.
Some autistic children react to electro magnetic radiation in a way that indicates they are upset by that exposure.
The health effects of microwave radiation have been known for sixty years. You will be shocked if you learn what has been hidden from you.
Posted by: Martin Weatherall