W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
23 December 2010
125 Vanevery Way
Stratford, Ontario
N5A 8C1
22 December 2010
Open letter to:
Dr. Miriam Klassen
Perth County Medical Officer of Health
653 West Gore St.
Stratford, Ontario
N5A 1L4
Re: Investigation of the Students' Cancer Cluster at St. Michael Catholic School
Dear Dr. Klassen,
I am writing to offer information that may assist you with your investigation into the cancer cluster among students at St Michael Catholic School, Stratford. There is strong scientific information to indicate that exposure to microwave radiation may be the main cause of the cancers.
Although there are many scientific reports that show a link between electro magnetic radiation and various types of cancer, I would like to draw your attention to the epidemiology research by S. Szmigielski, entitled Cancer morbidity in subjects exposed to high frequency (radiofrequency and microwave) electromagnetic radiation. The document is available at Pub Med, The U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. The ID number is 8717316, here is a link to the information - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8717316 . An abstract of the research is included at the end of this letter.
Szmigielski's paper describes a large scale scientific study involving over 128,000 Polish military personnel, of whom approximately 3,700 were exposed to radiofrequency and microwave radiation over several years. The results show that the persons exposed to electro magnetic radiation (EMR) had a rate of cancer morbidity that was more than twice the amount that the non-exposed people suffered. This statistic is very significant in itself. Of even greater importance to your investigation, however, is the elevated incidence of certain cancers that occurred within the "exposed" group, in comparison with the rates of occurrence of the non-exposed persons.
The cancers that you are investigating at St. Michael Catholic School are reported as being in the lymphoma family. The Szmigielski report found increases in non-Hodgkin lymphomas of nearly six times higher (OER = 5.82) than unexposed persons. The largest differences in morbidity rates between exposed and non-exposed personnel were found for chronic myelocytic leukaemia (OER = 13.9) and acute myeloblastic leukaemia (OER = 8.62). By extrapolation, the results of this research have huge implications to the present and future health of Stratford and Perth County residents, as most people are being exposed to this type of radiation on a daily basis.
The "exposed" subjects of the Polish military were being exposed to radiation only during a normal working week, which was probably eight hours a day, five days a week. By comparison, most of the youth in Perth County are being exposed to radiation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to Wi Fi in the schools, they are also exposed to DECT cordless telephones and Wi Fi systems that constantly emit strong amounts of microwave radiation in their homes.
Many youths also have cell phones, which research has already linked to significant increased risk of brain, ear, eye and mouth cancers. Sometimes, these young people sleep with these dangerous devices under their pillows or they recharge their cell phones in close proximity to the beds where they are sleeping. Both of these practices may be harmful and should be avoided. The young are often exposed to microwave radiation from other wireless devices, as well, including wireless baby monitors, wireless games, microwave ovens, electrical 'smart meters', Wi Fi on city streets, Wi Fi in retail, business and restaurant establishments, cell phone towers, and other antenna systems.
It is a major concern that the internal electrical systems of children are being assaulted by strong pulsed radiation while their brains and neurological systems are still growing and developing. Previous generations of children have never experienced these dangerously high levels of radiation. The "exposed" people in the Szmigielski study were healthy, fully developed adults, who were not as vulnerable as children. The youth of today can be likened to subjects in a mass medical experiment. The dreadful results of this experimentation are already clearly indicated in the available scientific literature, but that is largely being hidden or ignored by industry and by the agencies whose duty it is to protect us.
The serious cancer illness of several Stratford and Perth County youths is a tragic and horrible situation, but it is the future illness of countless others that should alarm this community. Since cancers often develop during the course of many years, we are unlikely to see the harm caused by today's microwave radiation exposure for several more years to come. At that time, the victims could be in the prime of life, possibly even parents themselves. The potential harm to these people, and the health costs that may be involved, is staggering.
Although your investigation is focused upon the lymphoma cancers at St Michael School, you must also be aware of other young persons in Perth County who have suffered from leukemia. It is known, from several scientific research projects into the health effects of power-line electro magnetic fields, that relatively low levels of EMFs cause leukemia rates to double. These EMF levels can sometimes be found inside homes, caused by incorrect wiring practices and various electrical devices. The Szmigielski study indicates that the leukemia rates of people who are exposed to microwave and RF radiation may be nearly fourteen times higher than that of persons who are not exposed. The combination of the dangers from electric fields and electro magnetic radiation will likely produce results that are much worse.
I ask you to complete a thorough investigation into the health effects of electro magnetic radiation, and carefully consider the possibility that electro magnetic radiation may be the main cause of the children's cancers. I am not aware of any other potential factor that has a risk factor as high as electro magnetic radiation, which can increase the chance of cancer by multiple times. Please advise me, if you are aware of any other such hazard.
I believe that you will find during the course of your investigation that there is more than enough evidence to warrant a "public health warning" about the dangers of electrical fields and microwave radiation. This action would educate parents to be aware of the potential harm that their children face from radiation, and help the parents to take precautions for the health of their children and themselves.
There are strong scientific reasons to believe that many of these childhood cancers could be avoided if parents, school boards, and others were to take precautions and stop the harmful radiation exposure of children. It is important that our elected leaders are advised about the dangers in such a way that they are required to take action to protect the people they represent. It is ironic that pesticide use has been tightly controlled in Perth County, yet we are now polluting our entire environment, both indoors and outdoors, with radiation that was shown to be dangerous to human health over forty years ago.
I am willing to meet with you to discuss in more detail the health effects of electro magnetic radiation. I could provide you with further scientific evidence about the dangers of EMR, connect you with world-leading researchers, and demonstrate electro magnetic detection equipment, to show you the electro magnetic fields that people are being exposed to.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Weatherall
Cc Stratford City Council.
Avon Maitland District School Board
Huron-Perth Catholic School Board
Cancer morbidity in subjects occupationally exposed to high frequency (radiofrequency and microwave) electromagnetic radiation.
Szmigielski S. 1996 Feb 2;180(1):9-17
Department of Biological Effect of Non-Ionizing Radiations, Center for Radiobiology and Radiation Safety at the Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract
Cancer morbidity was registered in the whole population of military career personnel in Poland during a period of 15 years (1971-1985). Subjects exposed occupationally to radiofrequencies (RF) and microwaves (MW) were selected from the population on the basis of their service records and documented exposures at service posts. The population size varied slightly from year to year with a mean count of about 128,000 persons each year; each year about 3700 of them (2.98%) were considered as occupationally exposed to RF/MW. All subjects (exposed and non-exposed to RF/MW) were divided into age groups (20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59). All newly registered cases of cancer were divided into 12 types based on localisation of the malignancy; for neoplasms of the haemopoietic system and lymphatic organs an additional analysis based on diagnosis was performed. Morbidity rates (per 100,000 subjects annually) were calculated for all of the above localisations and types of malignancies both for the whole population and for the age groups. The mean value of 15 annual rates during 1971-1985 represented the respective morbidity rate for the whole period. Morbidity rates in the non-exposed groups of personnel were used as 'expected' (E) rates for the exposed subjects, while the real morbidity rates counted in the RF/MW-exposed personnel served as 'observed' (O) rates. This allowed the calculation of the observed/expected ratio (OER) representing the odds ratio for the exposed groups. The cancer morbidity rate for RF/MW-exposed personnel for all age groups (20-59 years) reached 119.1 per 100,000 annually (57.6 in non-exposed) with an OER of 2.07, significant at P < 0.05. The difference between observed and expected values results from higher morbidity rates due to neoplasms of the alimentary tract (OER = 3.19-3.24), brain tumours (OER = 1.91) and malignancies of the haemopoietic system and lymphatic organs (OER = 6.31). Among malignancies of the haemopoietic/lymphatic systems, the largest differences in morbidity rates between exposed and non-exposed personnel were found for chronic myelocytic leukaemia (OER = 13.9), acute myeloblastic leukaemia (OER = 8.62) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (OER = 5.82).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8717316
PMID: 8717316
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UK Parliament Adjournment Debate - Mobile Phones (Health Effects)
I received the following link from Alasdair Philips, Powerwatch UK http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=7279
SCROLL TO 7HR.06 mins approx (21:40 hrs) the adjournment debate is in the last 30 mins of the session. Dr Devra Davis, Alasdair Philips and Powerwatch, Dr Lennart Hardell, Dr Henry Lai, myself and the EM Radiation Trust are all mentioned.
Only a few MPs attended this important adjournment debate including my MP Bill Esterson. However, it is an historic moment and could finally open up doors to further communication.
Also download the transcript from Hansard:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101220/debtext/101220-0004.htm
Eileen O'Connor
Director
EM Radiation Research Trust
http://www.radiationresearch.org
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SCIENCE 101: WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE
December 22, 2010. What does "weight-of-evidence" mean and how is it calculated?
The wrong way to calculate "weight-of-evidence" is to collect as many peer-reviewed* scientific studies as possible and then identify which ones show harmful effects and which ones show no effects and place them on a scale. This is the way Health Canada calculates weight-of-evidence. They refer to "thousands" of studies showing no effect.
The right way to calculate "weight-of-evidence" is to collect as many peer-reviewed scientific studies as possible and then identify which ones show harmful effects and which ones show beneficial effects and then place them on a scale.
To read more visit: http://www.magdahavas.com/2010/12/22/science-101-weight-of-evidence/
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GERMANY: Scientists develop textiles that screen out radiation
Scientists in Germany have developed what they claim to be the world's first fabrics which effectively screen out both electromagnetic (EM) and infrared ...
http://www.just-style.com/news/scientists-develop-textiles-that-screen-out-radiation_id109892.aspx
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