W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
17 May 2010
The Children's Wireless Protection Act
Dearest People,
I write you today with a song in my heart. It seems Interphone is finally going public about cell phones and brain tumors (although the usual media spin on the results have already begun, down playing the brain cancer aspect). I'm sure you've heard about this by now, but more will be revealed this week.
Anyway, I wanted to give you an update on our trip to Washington, DC last week, lobbying for The Children's Wireless Protection Act, a bill calling for a brain cancer warning label (with possibly softer language at the federal level, although we may have the juice we need now to stick with the brain cancer label) on all cell phones and the packaging. The meetings went SPECTACULAR, even before this new news of Interphone.
So, we met with a total of 35 reps from Congress and the Senate, 5 of these meetings were direct, in person with the Congressman or Senator, about 7 meetings with top legal staff on committees and reps, etc., and the rest with the legislative directors...the legislative directors are hugely important to this process. Sometimes legislators don't even read a bill, they just depend on their legislative directors to tell them how to vote!!!
Of those meetings, we received 2 or 3 offers of potential authorship (a legislator must author the bill in order for it to be introduced), 20 potential commitments of co-sponsorship - 15 of which are pretty solid commitments and about 5 direct on the spot, YES, I will co-sponsor and one, "I want to author this bill immediately"!!! There is of course the possibility that we will not even need a bill, just have a hearing and the FDA is forced to slap a warning label on the cell phone, and we are pushing for this, but the general consensus was that we may have to have a bill. But that may all be different now with the release of Interphone. We will see. Also, the resounding request from most of the supporters was "Don't blow my cover until after I get re-elected in November!" They are afraid of publicly supporting this bill for fear of industry backlash, supporting their opponent and ousting them from office. So they do not want to be public on this until mid-terms, when they are re-elected. Very understandable.
State side, the bill is being brought again in Maine this year and we have a commitment from a senator in CA to bring it as well!!! CA makes up 10% of the US, so this could prove to be a game changer for the federal level if we have any trouble at all moving the bill there.
Additionally, legislators in DC have expressed interest in viewing the testimonies in Maine, so we have uploaded most of the videos from the hearings that were held in March. Here is a link where we posted them on our website for viewing...
http://www.thepeoplesinitiative.org/Solutions.html
Also, we had to form another group that is allowed to spend 100% of it's efforts on lobbying (non profits are limited in this capacity). It is called The American Association for Cell Phone Safety and comprised primarily of cell phone radiation victims who are pissed and want to do something about this!!! Some of the members are in law suits against industry from cell phone induced brain tumors, some have been damaged by their cell phones but do not have a brain tumor, some are just plain old worried about their children.
http://www.americanassociationforcellphonesafety.org The website is 100% new so please bare with us while our webmaster is loading it.
This website will still be doing lobbying, but we must also focus on education and outreach, as we are limited as a 501c3 in lobbying.
By the way, if anyone would like to join our new lobbying group, we need you!!!
If you live in Europe, unless you know people in Iowa or NJ, you can skip to the bottom of this email...
Okay, if you live in the US, we especially need you if...
1) You live in the state of Iowa or know people who live in the state of Iowa.
2) You live or know of people who live in the following districts of NJ...
Metuchen, Edison, New Brunswick, South Amboy, Raritan Bay, Sayerville, Highland Park, South River, Union Beach, Matawan, Strathmore, Keansburg, Atlantic Heights, Highlands, Navesink, Seabright, Mammoth Beach, Long Branch, Asbury Park, Belmar, Lake Como, Spring Lake, Neptune City, Wanamesa, Oakhurst, Port Monmouth, Key Port, Morganville, York Town, Old Bridge, South River, Plainfield, Englishtown, Red Bank, Piscataway, Aberdeen, Allenhurst, Avon By the Sea, Bradley Beach, Deal, Hazlet, Interlaken, ey Port, Lake Cmo, Loch Arbour, Manalapan, Marlboro, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Neptune, Ocean, Redbank, West Long Branch, Franklin, Plainfield.
The reps from both these areas may play a key role in the legislation. Thus we are trying to build constituency support. Please email us or have them email us.
Thank you so much everyone for your help!
We are confident we will pass this bill very soon, both state-wide and eventually federally and of course ultimately world wide, these things will soon come with a health warning. But of course none of this can be done without your help and participation. It truly does "take a village". So if you know of people in these areas or would like to get the bill going in your state or country or can help in any way, don't be shy!!! Please let us know!!!
Thank you for your continued support. I hope you enjoy the testimonies. Feel free to pass them on. The one from the CTIA, Vice President is especially charming, watching this man testify against putting a brain cancer warning label on cell phones for children. He also just so happened to have spent his career at the FCC prior to becoming VP at CTIA. What a coincidence.
Be well and best wishes.
Liz
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interphone study
Please note that the Interphone study is going to be released May 18th and it will be one of the topics for discussion on CBC Radio "the Current" on Tuesday morning at 7:30 am. CBC is going to interview Elisabeth Cardis, who is the head of the Interphone study, as well as other Canadian scientists including Magda Havas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7127799.ece
From The Sunday Times
May 16, 2010
Heavy mobile users risk cancer
Daniel Foggo
PEOPLE who use their mobile phones for at least 30 minutes a day for 10 years have a greater risk of developing brain cancer, a landmark study has found.
The chance of suffering from a malignant tumour is increased by more than a third with prolonged use, according to a long-awaited report by the World Health Organisation.
The outcome of the 10-year Interphone study — the largest of its kind, compiling research from 13 countries — has been eagerly anticipated by both the phone industry, which contributed substantially to its funding, and campaigners who warn of radiation risks from handsets.
Its results, which will be published this week, show that only those in the "heaviest user" category are at increased risk of developing glioma tumours, a type of brain cancer.
This category, however, includes anyone who regularly uses their handset for more than 30 minutes a day.
They concluded that there was no increased risk of cancer in other users.
However, the report is expected to spark a row over the validity of its findings.
The scientists have admitted that more research will be needed because of their broad categorisation of heavy phone use and also because phone users under the age of 30 were excluded from the study.
Interphone scientists defined a "regular" mobile user as anyone making one call a week over a six-month period.
The average mobile phone use of those in the study was between two and 2 1/2 hours a month.
"Today mobile phone use has become much more prevalent and it is not unusual for young people to use mobile phones for an hour or more a day," the scientists said in a statement.
Some of the questions raised by the Interphone research are puzzling. The statistics appear to show that at lower levels of usage, mobile phones actually protect against cancer, something that even the study's authors reject as implausible.
Critics of the Interphone study, which was based on interviews with more than 5,000 brain cancer victims, claim omissions and errors have left it deeply flawed.
They believe that the propensity of mobile-phone radiation to cause cancer is much greater than the study shows.
A new piece of research, backed by the European Union, has been launched to investigate possible links between brain tumours in children and mobile phone use.
Submitted by Mast Sanity
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Landmark study set to show potential dangers of heavy mobile phone use
Prolonged mobile phone use could be linked to a type of cancer, the largest investigation of its kind will show next week.
15 May 2010
A landmark study will include some evidence that those who regularly hold long conversations on handsets are at increased risk of developing potentially fatal brain tumours.
Its findings may lead the Government to update its health advice on the safety of mobile phones, which has remained unchanged for four years despite increased usage in Britain particularly among children.
But the scientists in 13 countries who contributed to the decade-long, £15 million Interphone project are likely to face criticism that despite the time and expense involved in their work, the data obtained are inconclusive and susceptible to error.
The study was started by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the UN's World Health Organisation, in 1998 to investigate whether exposure to mobile phones is linked to the development of three types of brain tumour.
It was known that radiofrequency radiation emitted by mobiles is absorbed by the body, much of it by the head when the handset is held to the ear. But research into whether frequent mobile phone use damages health had proved inconclusive, mainly because of the short time since the technology became widely used.
Between 2000 and 2004, researchers therefore interviewed tumour sufferers and those in good health – 12,800 in total -to see if their mobile phone use differed.
Some of the studies that have been published individually showed increased risk of glioma - the most common type of brain tumour - among those who talked on a mobile for about 30 minutes a day for 10 years. Many who developed the tumours saw them grow on the same side of the head as they held their handsets.
A summary of the results stated: "Pooling of data from Nordic countries and part of the UK yielded a significantly increased risk of glioma related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more on the side of the head where the tumour developed."
Interphone will hold back from asserting that mobile phones cause cancer as the evidence is not conclusive and also because of questions over its reliability.
Its definition of "mobile phone user" included people who only made one call a week, and many fear that accurate results cannot be obtained by asking people to recall how often they used their mobile phones, and to which ear they held them, several years earlier.
Some of the results for short-term use appeared to show that mobile phones protect against cancer, suggesting the study design had serious flaws.
It has been claimed that the positive results could be explained by "recall bias" as people who have developed brain tumours are likely to believe they must have been caused by something, such as their previous use of mobile phones.
The final results paper of the study, one quarter of which was funded by the mobile phone industry, has been delayed for four years while the authors argued over how to present the final conclusions but will be published in a scientific journal next week.
It will call for more research, particularly among the young, and also warn that more frequent use among the world's 4billion mobile phone owners means that exposure to radiation is now far higher than the data used in Interphone.
Despite its limitations, Interphone remains the largest study carried out into the safety of mobile phones so health ministries worldwide and the billion-pound telecommunications industry are likely to rely heavily on its findings.
The Department of Health has not updated its guidance for more than four years and only suggests that children should be "discouraged" from making "non-essential" calls while adults should "keep calls short".
However other countries have urged users to buy hands-free sets or send texts rather than making calls, or to ban advertising of phones aimed at children.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A generation's health is being ignored
Is this going to turn out be the biggest waste of research funds so far this century? On Tuesday, the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer will publish the largest ever study on whether radiation from mobile phones causes brain cancer, involving well over 20,000 people from 13 countries.
But it will certainly be out of date, and may well prove to be a damp squib. Not that it is not an important subject. Other research has shown that using a handset for more than 10 years doubles the risk of getting malignant gliomas, and that those who start before the age of 20 are five times more likely to develop the disease. Given their almost universal use among the
young, some experts predict a cancer epidemic ahead.
But the £16.5 million Interphone study excluded children, teenagers and young adults, the most susceptible to damage.
Most of those studied had used their phones for only a few years, when it takes at least a decade for cancers to develop.
And the research was done between 10 and six years ago, since when mobile use has greatly increased. Inexplicably, the scientists have sat on the results for five years before publishing them.
Regulatory bodies have been waiting for the results, but such flaws may have rendered them meaningless (although there may be some signs that persistent use over a decade or more does increase cancer risks). However, one firm conclusion can be guaranteed: an earnest plea for more well-funded research.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.scotsman.com/topstories/Study-links-mobile-phone-use.6297703.jp
Study links mobile phone use to brain tumours
Published Date: 16 May 2010
By Mark Smith
A MAJOR international study has found a link between mobile phone use and certain brain tumours.
Now leading scientists have called for restrictions on children's access to mobiles and stricter government advice to adults on their use.
The £15 million Interphone study, due to be published on Tuesday, was backed by the World Health Organisation and took ten years to produce.
It is set to show "a significantly increased risk" of some brain tumours "related to use for a period of ten years or more" of mobile phones.
However, some scientists have raised doubts over the study's methods.
Study links brain cancer to mobile phones PARENTS have been warned to restrict their children's mobile phone use after a global study found a link between the most common brain cancer and prolonged use of the devices.
The results of the Interphone study, to be officially released on Tuesday, will include some evidence that those who regularly hold long conversations on handsets are at increased risk of developing potentially fatal tumours.
However, the study is set to spark controversy amid claims that research methods used could have skewed the results.
Despite the row, the findings are expected to prompt the government to update its health advice on mobile phones use, which has remained unchanged for four years.
Usage among children has increased dramatically in the past decade but current advice only says use should be "discouraged" in the very young.
The World Health Organisation commissioned the research, which took 10 years and examined the habits of 12,800 phone users.
According to reports, the study concludes prolonged mobile phone use over a 10-year period created a "significantly increased risk" of a type of brain tumour called glioma, prompting the call for restrictions on use among the young.
Dr Siegal Sadetzki, one of the 13-nation team of researchers, said: "Most studies, including ours, show something happening in long-term users. Why shouldn't we take some simple measures to limit exposure just to be on the safe side?"
Dr Elisabeth Cardis, who headed the Interphone research project, added: "I am in agreement with restricting use by children, though I would not go as far as banning mobiles."
The results have been seized on by campaigners who claim a link between mobile phones and cancers. Professor Denis Henshaw, head of the Human Radiation Effects Group at Bristol University, has been a long-term critic of allowing children unrestricted mobile phone use. He said: "Why should it come as a surprise that pressing mobile phones to people's ears increases the risk of brain tumours? These findings are completely as expected from other evidence.
"Children are known to be more vulnerable and we need to take action to protect them. The challenge now is how we respond. Burying our heads in the sand is asking for trouble."
The project includes some studies that appear to show a rise in the risk of brain tumours linked to mobiles. Israeli studies included found heavy users were at least 50 per cent more likely to suffer tumours.
Two more studies reported a higher risk after using mobiles for 10 years. A Swedish report said it was 3.9 times higher.
A summary of the results stated: "Pooling of data from Nordic countries and part of the UK yielded a significantly increased risk of glioma related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more on the side of the head where the tumour developed."
But the scientists who contributed to the decade-long, £15 million project are likely to face criticism that, despite the time and expense involved in their work, the data obtained is inconclusive and susceptible to error.
At the start of the project, it was known that radio-frequency radiation emitted by mobiles is absorbed by the body, much of it by the head when the handset is held to the ear. But research into whether frequent mobile phone use damages health had proved inconclusive, mainly because the technology is relatively recent.
Between 2000 and 2004, researchers therefore interviewed tumour sufferers and those in good health 12,800 in total to see if their mobile phone use differed.
Some of the studies that have been published individually showed increased risk of glioma the most common type of brain tumour among those who talked on a mobile for about 30 minutes a day for 10 years. Many who developed the tumours saw them grow on the same side of the head as they held their handsets.
Interphone will hold back from asserting that mobile phones cause cancer as it ruled the evidence was not conclusive and also because of questions over its reliability.
Its definition of "mobile phone user" included people who only made one call a week, and many fear that accurate results cannot be obtained by asking people to recall how often they used their mobile phones, and to which ear they held them, several years prior to being surveyed.
It has been claimed the positive results could be explained by "recall bias" as people who have developed brain tumours are likely to believe they must have been caused by something, such as their previous use of mobile phones.
The final results of the study, a quarter of which was funded by the mobile phone industry, has been delayed for four years while the authors argued over how to present the conclusions but will be published in a scientific journal this week.
It will call for more research, particularly among the young, and also warn that more frequent use among the world's four billion mobile phone owners means that exposure to radiation is now far higher than the data used in Interphone.
Despite its limitations, Interphone remains the largest study carried out into the safety of mobile phones, so health ministries worldwide and the billion-pound telecommunications industry are likely to rely heavily on its findings.
The Department of Health has not updated its guidance for more than four years and only suggests children should be "discouraged" from making "non-essential" calls while adults should "keep calls short". Many countries are already moving to restrict mobile use among the young.
Tougher rules abroad
In the UK there are no restrictions at all on mobile phone use among children. The UK department of health advises that calls should be kept short but there are no legal barriers to children talking for hours if they wish.
In France operators must offer parents text message only models so that children can keep in touch without putting the phones to their ears.
In Germany low emission phones which have special blue angel mark on them must be made available to children.
In Australia children are advised to use mobiles only in emergencies.
In Israel the government have gone further, officially discouraging the use of mobiles in public places or on trains and buses due to fears over health risks.
However, other countries have urged users to buy hands-free sets or send texts rather than making calls, or to ban advertising of phones aimed at children.
Submitted by Mast Sanity
Web site www.weepinitiative.org e-mail contactweep@weepinitiative.org
To sign up for WEEP News: newssignup@weepinitiative.org (provide name and e-mail address)
W.E.E.P. – The Canadian initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution
