W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
25 July 2010
Killer Cellphones
The link below is to a Radio Canada International story. At the web page you will find a button that says 'listen', you can then listen to a very interesting recording of Dr. Magda Havas being interviewed about the dangers of cell phones.
http://www.rcinet.ca/english/column/the-link-s-top-stories/killer-cellphones-/
Do you have the new iPhone 4? Have you been disappointed by its lack of reception? Before you return it, consider the fact that you might own the safest cell phone on the market! Dr Magda Havas, an expert on the biological effects of environmental contaminants, thinks that Apple's so-called design flaw is a blessing in disguise. Because she says your regular cell phone might be killing you. Literally.
Links:
www.magdahavas.com
Find more information on Health Canada position on the safety of cell phones and other wireless devices on Health Canada's website:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/wireless_safe-securit_sansfil-eng.php
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/cell-eng.php
Health Canada's research studies on radio frequency energy and health are available at:
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/radiation/cons/radiofreq/research-recherche-eng.php
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Support Dr. Olle Johansson
Below is a letter on behalf of Olle Johansson. Feel free to circulate and use as a model for your own letters. There is at least one letter circulating for people to communally sign but it's important for people to write individually too. This may be especially true for the scientists among us. He can use an outpouring of support right now as the pressure in the opposite direction appears to be getting stronger.
Best Regards,
Blake Levitt
July 20, 2010
To:
Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, Rektor
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
rektorssekreterare@ki.se
c/c:
Staffan Cullheim
Chairman, Department of Neuroscience,
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
staffan.cullheim@ki.se
Re: Associate Professor Olle Johansson
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Dear Rektor Wallberg-Henriksson,
It has come to the attention of many in the EMF science community that Dr. Olle Johansson is having difficulty maintaining proper laboratory &office space when other uses take precedence over his professional requirements. Several months ago, the head of the Department of Neuroscience, Dr. Staffan Cullheim, asked Dr. Johansson to vacate his office and laboratory so that an animal containment area of some sort could locate there. Dr. Johansson refused and although there were other spaces available in that building, such a use was never commenced. Now Dr. Cullheim has asked Dr. Johansson to vacate again, this time for an imaging facility when there are still other suitable and empty spaces available elsewhere in that building, we have been told. This latest request is also being made at a time when Dr. Johansson is recovering from surgery.
Clearly this sort of mobile office mayhem makes it difficult for other scientists to know if Dr. Johansson will be able to carry out replication of studies done elsewhere, as well as to continue his own very important work. Surely everyone must be aware of how difficult it is to repeatedly move professional quarters around. After a while, one begins to wonder if these requests are motivated by something more personal.
Sometimes it is helpful for people in top leadership positions at world-renowned institutions such as Karolinska to hear from people outside of their immediate working circles -- hence my taking the liberty to address you. I am an American medical &science journalist, former New York Times writer, author of Electromagnetic Fields, A Consumer's Guide to the Issues… (Harcourt Brace, 1996 first edition; iUniverse 2007 second edition), a book which won an award of excellence from the American Medical Writers Association. I am also the editor of Cell Towers, Wireless Convenience? or Environmental Hazard? Proceedings of the "Cell Towers Forum," State of the Science, State of the Law, (Safe Goods/New Century Publishing, 2000). That book is a compendium of papers presented at an environmental forum and contains the presentations of government officials from three American federal regulatory agencies; three world-renowned research scientists; several physicists and RF engineers; and several attorneys and land-use regulators. I have been an invited speaker at numerous forums, including at the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK, in 2000 where I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Johansson and to discuss his work for the first time. At that conference, I believe he presented his seminal research on changes in skin mast cells with EMF/RF exposures.
Over the years, I have followed Dr. Johansson's important professional contribution to what must be the most contentious area of science &public health policy today -- that of the health and environmental effects of nonionizing radiation. This is a critically important subject with over 4 billion cell phone users now and all of the wireless infrastructure needed to make those technologies function. The human race has never been exposed to this form of radiation before, with its odd signaling characteristics, at such intensities, and with long, chronic exposures. We are in the throes of a massive global experiment with no end in sight, and little cautionary intelligence being brought to bear.
As a science writer for over 25 years with a focus on biophysics, it has become second nature to recognize what does or does not constitute credible work, and how very easy it is to slant studies toward the outcome that a funding source desires. In America, over a 10+ year period in the late 1980's and 1990's, 4-to-5 independent bioelectromagnetics research facilities closed when the telecom industry gradually refused to fund any labs that found results not beneficial to them. In time, the industry refused to fund independent researchers who would not sign confidentiality clauses regarding their findings, plus they insisted on final edit for all papers published. Some papers with adverse findings never saw the light of day. The industry refused to publish after researchers objected to altering their interpretations to suit industry aims. It was the wholesale gutting of American bioelectromagnetics research at a time when government funding was also drying up. Today, there is only one such independent lab still in existence at the University of Washington, headed by Dr. Henry Lai. Dr. Lai prevailed because he refused to tolerate industry bullying, and because the president of the university understood how important Dr. Lai's work is. Most other bioelectromagnetics researchers here have been forced to close their labs, go on to other work, or retire. Where those labs were housed under a university or government umbrella, other uses were quickly found for their space -- the same scenario that Dr. Johansson seems to be facing.
Today more than ever, with so much at stake from increasing exposures to telecommunications technologies, the relative handful of experienced, independent researchers who still exist need consistent support and protection.
Billions of dollars in industry profits depend on a clean-bill-of-health being given to them. Whether that assumption is accurate is very much in question -- and always has been. These exposures have been known to be problematic to humans and other species since the early 1950's.
Yet safety issues have never been resolved. What is not in question is that there are very few researchers with the expertise to gather reliable, useful data. Dr. Johansson is one of those few and his work should be promoted and made easier, not more difficult and dispiriting.
Dr. Johansson is highly respected in the international bioelectromagnetics community. He often asks the toughest questions and follows through with plausible data. He has conducted many groundbreaking studies on the effects of low-level, chronic EMF/RF exposures.
These include, as you likely know, changes in the skin's mast cells in people who have electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), which was the first work to find physiological differences in that segment of the population, thereby providing a mechanism for this perplexing functional disorder that now afflicts millions of people worldwide. Dr. Johansson was also the first to find a direct parallel between the introduction of FM radio transmission -- an energetic environmental exposure that did not exist prior to the 1940's -- and the rise in melanoma rates. No one had looked for that association before, presuming that the steady rise in melanoma rates was due to sun exposure, despite the obvious paradox that most melanomas occur on parts of the body not exposed to sunlight.
These are only two examples. There are many others. And then there are the many seminal papers published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Johansson has also spoken at numerous forums and professional conferences, and is among the few professionals to make himself available to people suffering damage from EMF/RF exposures. He also makes himself available to the global press as an educator. The Karolinska Institute could not have a better representative than Dr. Johansson of its historic mission to create cutting edge research and apply it to useful, intelligent public policy.
It is my understanding that Dr. Johansson was preparing to replicate some of the work of Dr. Magda Havas at Trent University in Canada but cannot guarantee that now. It does little good for scientists to concentrate on pressing controversial areas, with all the inherent professional risks entailed, if they only experience marginalization for their sincere efforts.
Replication is the lifeblood of science. In bioelectromagnetics, more so than other disciplines, the stakes are unusually high.
Only certain labs know how to do this work. Only certain researchers know what to look for, how to design studies, how to really replicate rather than intentionally skew the original work, how to measure and control for any number of real-life variables/problems/biases. The timing of exposures and dosimetry problems alone can be staggering. In fact, most of the parameters that determine outcomes in bioelectromagnetics do not affect other areas of science. There just aren't enough Dr. Johansson's available to help the world accurately sort this out and for Dr. Johansson to have his lab and office minimized for any reason goes against the heart of Karolinska's mission.
It is my sincere hope that you will find a satisfactory resolution within your hallowed walls so that he may continue his significant research. At a moment in history such as this, with a potential emerging health crisis, Dr. Johansson should be given more lab space, not less.
His expertise is rare and most needed. Dr. Johansson's contribution has been critical to international efforts to understand this urgent area of science. Hopefully he will be able to continue under the best of circumstances and not experience the worst, as happened to scientists in America.
Today there is very little research on EMF/RF in America, while there is increased interest and funding in Europe and elsewhere. At one time, America was the leader in this but no longer. Much of that is due to industry influence here on our political system. Dr. Johansson has a significant role to play, not just for Karolinska, but for all of us.
Thank you for the opportunity to address you on this matter.
Sincerely,
Ms. B. Blake Levitt
355 Lake Rd.
New Preston, CT 06777 USA
Email: blakelevit@cs.com
Website: www. Blakelevitt.com
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Review of the Information on Hazards to Personnel from High-Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1188/
Support for EMF researcher goes global, puts Karolinska Pres.
Wallberg-Henriksson in spotlight to respond
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1194/
Expert signals warning over Dundee mast
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1201/
The LIFE And DEATH ABC's of EMR's
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1190/
Regular mobile phone use linked to tinnitus
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1198/
July 2010: Science Update
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1204/
Wake up call for Scandinavia
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1211/
Smart Meters far more dangerous than anticipated
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1183/
Marin County to consider moratorium on SmartMeters
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1193/
FCC & FDA Cell Phone Regulatory Roles Questioned by Activists
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1182/
Two new rulings by the Supreme support the local position on cell towers
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1184/
Environment Ministry halts cellular antenna permits over radiation concerns
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1199/
Mobile phone towers a cause of worry
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1209/
Bishopthorpe Road residents' mobile phone mast anger
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1181/
New O2 phone mast is disguised as flag pole on cinema roof
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1186/
Joy as phone giants withdraw mast plans
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1192/
Mast plans appeal bid
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1203/
Mast refusal a victory for people power
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1206/
Free Wi-Fi at beach fuels health debate
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/1210/
Next-up News Nr 1373
http://sharenews.twoday.net/stories/6434115/
Next-up News Nr 1374
http://sharenews.twoday.net/stories/6435370/
Next-up News Nr 1375
http://sharenews.twoday.net/stories/6437759/
News from Mast Sanity
http://tinyurl.com/2vhcbl6
http://tinyurl.com/aotw3
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