W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
16 July 2010
The Effects Of Radiation In The Cause Of Cancer
July 15th, 2010
http://www.cochinpages.com/general/the-effects-of-radiation-in-the-cause-of-cancer/
Cancer is, unfortunately, spreading in the modern society. Nearly all cancer forms are increasing when it comes to incidence, i.e. new cases/year (cf. Hallberg & Johansson 2002a).
It could recently be read in the BBC News that skin cancer is rising in young adults, and Sara Hiom, head of the health information at Cancer Research UK said, when interviewed, that "Non-melanoma cancers are rising at an alarming rate".
Non-melanoma cancers are rising at an alarming rate
More and more research efforts goes into understanding the molecular mechanisms behind these various progressive cancer forms, and much more money is spent on finding new drugs to treat patients. However, oddly enough, very little is spent on understanding the actual causes for cancer.
Among such possible causative agents, more and more focus is nowadays put on modern gadgets, such as mobile telephones and computers, and their chemical and physical emissions, including flame retardants and electromagnetic non-ionising radiation.
Childhood leukemia was early connected to power-frequent magnetic fields already in the pioneering work by Wertheimer and Leeper (1979), and more recently Scandinavian scientists have identified an increased risk for acoustic neuroma (i.e., a benign tumor of the eighth cranial nerve) in cell phone users, as well as a slightly increased risk of malignant brain tumors such as astrocytoma and meningioma on the same side of the brain as the cell phone was habitually held (Hardell et al. 1999, 2004, 2005; Lonn et al. 2004).
In addition, a clear association between adult cancers and FM radio broadcasting radiation has been noticed, both in time and location (Hallberg & Johansson 2002b, 2004, 2005a). Initial studies on facial nevi indicates that nowadays also young children can have a substantial amount of these.
If it can be shown that radiofrequent radiation is not correlated with child cancers the current focus on low-frequency electromagnetic fields can continue. If there is also a radiofrequent and/or microwave correlation then this must be considered in future research as well as in today's preventive work.
Most recently, Dr. Djemal Beniashvili and other scientists at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, have demonstrated a possible link between exposure to power-frequent electromagnetic fields and breast cancer in elderly women (Beniashvili et al. 2005).
They compared the breast cancer rates in elderly women from an earlier period (1978-1990) to a more recent period (1991-2003), which has been characterized by a much more extensive use of personal computers (more than 3 hours a day), mobile telephones, TV sets, and other household electrical appliances. They used available medical records extending over a period of 26 years, involving the analysis of more than 200,000 samples.
Most recently a possible link has been demonstrated between exposure to power-frequent electromagnetic fields and breast cancer in elderly women
Among the elderly women who developed breast cancer in the first time frame, 20 percent were regularly exposed to power-frequent fields.
But in the more modern period 51 percent were so exposed, mainly through the use of personal computers. The authors concluded: "There was a statistically significant influence of electromagnetic fields on the formation of all observed epithelial mammary tumours in the second group."
This represented a more than two-fold increase, which was considered highly significant (cf. Beniashvili et al. 2005).
Of course, many other environmental factors have changed during the period 1978-1990, but increased environmental exposure to power-frequent fields is among the more conspicuous changes to have taken place. Naturally, there are many aspects of this question that remain to be clarified, and, from a scientific point of view, it is far from conclusively settled.
Educational Cell Phone Digital Book by Paul Fitzgerald, EMF expert, graduated from NJIT in Newark, NJ. He has been studying EMF's for over 15 years.. He has done over 100 radio shows in 2006 and released his book CellPhone Lies To learn more go to EMF Radiation News.
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Is Your Office Making You Sick?
July 14th, 2010
How to heal sick building syndrome.
Sick building syndrome (SBS) and the growing prevalence of WiFi and mobile phones are creating long-term health risks that are much more difficult to define—let alone diagnose. With symptoms ranging from dry cough and eye, nose, skin or throat irritation to dizziness, fatigue, headaches, and nausea caused by biological contaminants (like bacteria and molds), toxins from asbestos, carbon monoxide, cleaning agents, and radiation in the workplace, researchers conclude "more focus is needed on the indoor environment" to prevent SBS.
A study at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, for example, shows that cutting ventilation rates even a little can raise the incidence of sick building syndrome among workers by 23%. And exposure to electromagnetic pollution, increasingly prevalent today, only compounds these risks.
New research in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health reports increased cancer and neurological risks from cell towers, which seem to be popping up everywhere—often disguised in church steeples and bell towers. Reviewing 10 epidemiological studies, a Swedish investigation notes that 8 show increased risks within 500 meters (about 1/3 of mile) of mobile phone base stations.
As none of these studies reports exposure above accepted international guidelines for electromagnetic fields (EMFs), the researchers admit "current guidelines may be inadequate in protecting the health of human populations." Furthermore, this research addresses only one form of radiation surrounding us all 24/7.
Some studies show that American electrical workers with the most electric and magnetic exposure are twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as those with lower exposure. University of Washington research finds that communications and electrical workers have higher rates of breast cancer—even though this study only looked at men—who don't actually have breasts!
Data from over 130,000 electrical workers shows an increased risk of suicide, while other studies link EMF radiation to depression and other mental health problems. In an earlier review of occupational exposure to EMFs, 9 out of 10 studies link electromagnetic radiation to ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Dr. Ann Louise's Take:
It's beginning to look like many of us may be suffering from a kind of severe allergy to electricity and electronics.
At this point you may well be asking what you can do. I'm certainly not suggesting that you quit your job. What I am suggesting is that it's time to consider the electropollution on your own personal "radar screen."
I've learned a thing or two about this kind of pollution. And the answer can be as simple as moving your desk a few feet away from hazardous sources.
For starters, take a look around your workspace, identifying areas that could possibly emit EMFs. Culprits can include electrical boxes, cables, electrical utility closets, transformers outside the building, and cell or radio frequency towers nearby.
Elevators may also be cause for concern. One study, for example, linked a hydraulic elevator, which regularly produces power surges with corresponding magnetic fields far above safe limits, to increased risk for breast cancer among women working in this building.
What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
Check out some of the electromagnetic safety equipment I've personally found helpful in my EMF Product Guide. For example, you might want to measure EMFs in your workplace with a GaussMeter, paying special attention to readings in areas where you spend most of your day.
If readings are high—above 1 milligauss (mG) according to The Bioinitiative Report—move your desk and chair away from a wall where wiring is located or if EMF-generating machines (like copy machines or wireless routers) are on the other side. Keep your distance, as well, from surge protectors, extension cords, power bars, and electrical wires.
Whenever you need to make copies, stand away from the machine, particularly the motor, which can produce EMFs. Fax machines, printers, and scanners all give off EMFs, and some laser printers emit ozone, which irritates the lining of the lungs.
Is your computer hard drive located under your desk? If so, move it as far away from your body as possible to distance yourself from EMFs and turn off any electronic equipment when you're not using it. To learn more ways to remediate the all-too numerous health hazards that invade today's buildings, go to www.buildingbiology.net, and then share your findings with your office manager or supervisor.
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Judge won't bar use of electronics
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Local-news-in-brief-July-13--2010#disqus_thread
A judge has reaffirmed her decision not to issue a preliminary injunction to bar Arthur Firstenberg's neighbor from using electronic devices in her home, but the judge again declined to dismiss Firstenberg's lawsuit.
Firstenberg claims that because he is extraordinarily sensitive to electromagnetic signals, his health is damaged by Raphaela Monribot's use of an iPhone, a Wi-Fi system and other electronic devices.
His complaint against Monribot and the owner of her west-side house, Robin Leith, made national headlines earlier this year.
In orders issued Thursday, state District Judge Sarah Singleton said no hearing is necessary on Firstenberg's motion for an injunction. An affidavit from Olle Johansson, head of Experimental Dermatology Unit at the Korolinska Institute of Stockholm, Sweden, regarding Firstenberg's "electrohypersensititivty," does not change the judge's previous ruling, Singleton wrote.
But Singleton also turned down Monribot's motion to dismiss the complaint, so the case will progress toward a trial. No dates have been set.
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Are Cell Phones the New Cigarettes?
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | July 15 2010
http://emf.mercola.com/sites/emf/archive/2010/07/15/are-cell-phones-the-new-cigarettes.aspx
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Vatican masts blamed for causing cancer in children
By Michael Day in Milan
Thursday, 15 July 2010
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/vatican-masts-blamed-for-causing-cancer-in-children-2026765.html
Radio masts operated by the Vatican's radio station are causing cancer in children, a medical expert has told a Rome court – resulting in six officials of the station being investigated for manslaughter.
The claims of Professor Andrea Micheli, from Milan's National Tumor Institute, focus on 19 child deaths from leukaemia or lymphoma between 1980 and 2003 in the Cesano area, north of Rome; Vatican Radio operates masts nearby in Santa Maria di Galeria.
Micheli, a professor of cancer epidemiology, says in his 300-page report: "The study suggests there was an important, coherent and significant link between residential exposure to the Vatican Radio structures and an excess risk of death from leukaemia and lymphoma in the children."
He said the raised cancer risk occurred in children under 14 who lived less than 7.5 miles from the masts. He also found evidence of a link between the radiation and adult cancers – but only among those who lived much closer to the antennae.
His investigation was ordered by the court five years ago after concerns were raised about an increased incidence of cancer in the area. As a result of Prof Micheli's evidence, six officials of Vatican Radio have been placed under investigation for manslaughter, by investigating magistrate Stefano Pesci.
The Vatican was quick to point out yesterday that the Italian Navy also operated radio masts in the area.
La Repubblica reported, however, that the leaked court report singled out the Vatican Radio masts as the likely cause, quoting it as saying: "It is due to exposure to the antennae of Vatican Radio and not that of the navy."
Father Federico Lombardi, the director general of Vatican Radio, said it had followed all regulations in setting up the masts.
He also expressed concern that the report was leaked ahead of its official publication,
Vatican Radio, which was set up in 1931, broadcasts to 61 countries in 47 languages.
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Parents question Wi-Fi
Posted By NATHAN TAYLOR, The Packet & Times
"I don't know what to do, and I'm scared."
Betty Churchley isn't the only one looking for answers to the list of unknowns surrounding her 12-year-old son's symptoms, which she believes could be a product of electromagnetic radiation coming from the wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) in her son's school, Mountain View Elementary School in Collingwood.
Fighting back tears, Churchley spoke about her son, who uses a heart monitor because of an erratic heartbeat that she said began when Wi-Fi was installed at the school.
The Collingwood mother was among the 80 or so people who attended an information session last week at Collingwood's Leisure Time Centre. The meeting was organized by the recently formed Simcoe Safe School Committee.
The committee, made up of mental health counsellors, chiropractors and others in the community, paid to bring Magda Havas, associate professor at Trent University, to make a presentation. Havas has conducted electromagnetic research for 20 years, and she believes Wi-Fi should not be in schools.
"If this was happening to my child," Havas told Churchley, "I'd take them out of Mountain View school."
Angel Bavelaar, of Wasaga Beach, came to the meeting with her eight-year-old son, Dalton, who has been diagnosed with superventricular tachycardia, the symptoms of which includes a racing heart.
Bavelaar had to pause to regain her composure while describing her son's conditions.
"He has every single symptom you can think of. It breaks my heart," she said. "He was a normal kid, then it was almost like he had ADHD, stopped sleeping, cried all the time. He just wasn't himself."
"I feel like I'm going to fall and it feels like I'm not really in my body and I can't move," Dalton explained.
Bavelaar said Dalton has collapsed five times at his school, Birchview Dunes Elementary School.
"It's always at school where he seems worse," she said. "Even if it turns out that he's just got a normal heart condition, the Wi-Fi isn't helping anything."
Christine MacLean is undecided. She attended the meeting as part of her est to find out what's causing symptoms -- such as nausea and trouble sleeping -- experienced by her kids, who attend Mountain View. She wants to know the differences between symptoms related to anxiety and those caused by electromagnetic fields.
She explained how her children's symptoms subsided when they were away from Wi-Fi, "only to re-experience them when we spent a weekend in a Toronto hotel" that had wireless Internet.
The Simcoe County District School Board implemented Wi-Fi in all of its schools as part of its information and communication technology (ICT) strategic plan. The board has been faced with criticism recently by some parents of Mountain View students.
But the board's policy conforms to Health Canada's guidelines.
"We count on our government regulators to help us out," said board superintendent John Dance. "We've taken a look at it... and we have to say there's nothing there that says (Wi-Fi) is unsafe."
The board has been accused of knowingly putting kids' health at risk by not exercising the precautionary principle, which calls for all risks to be eliminated in the absence of conclusive evidence they cause harm.
"You're not going to cross the road because you might get hit by a car? That's simplistic, I know, but the precautionary principle is not based on science," Dance said, adding, "there hasn't been any medical evidence from medical doctors" saying its usage in schools is harmful to children.
At an earlier meeting, the board brought in physicist Tony Muc, who agreed the technology was safe. The parents argue that Muc did not focus on the biological effects.
"I understand that," Dance said, "but when you bring in someone with hard science, you go with scientific answers."
Havas maintains Health Canada's Safety Code 6, which sets guidelines for radiofrequency exposure, "does not protect anyone against biological health effects."
"We've got to educate school officials that this technology is not safe. We're not saying don't use the Internet," she said, noting they are asking that the board recognize potential hazards and exercise the precautionary principle. "They're not doing that, and they're hiding behind Health Canada."
No representatives from the Simcoe County District School Board were at last week's meeting, as they were at their own finance meeting. But Paul Wehrle made it.
Wehrle is a trustee with the Bluewater District School Board, which also has Wi-Fi in all of its schools.
"I have three grandchildren in the system, and I'm very nervous," he said. "We're immersing children in an electromagnetic environment that we really don't know anything about."
Not knowing is the frustrating part, said Wehrle, who represents Meaford and the Blue Mountains.
"You have a lot of theories. You can't prove what you're saying," he said of Havas, noting the symptoms could be tied to other causes. "On the other hand, Safety Code 6 is not based on any stronger evidence than hers."
Wehrle noted he was not speaking on behalf of the school board.
Angela Klein is on the parent council at St. Vincent-Euphrasia Elementary School in Meaford. Her seven-year-old daughter attends the school.
Like so many others, Klein is on a hunt for answers. She believes Wi-Fi is causing health problems, but it hasn't been proven to her.
"But I also believe they can't prove to me it's not. And if we don't have an answer either way, it shouldn't be there," she said.
Initially, a group of Mountain View parents asked the Simcoe County board to turn off Wi-Fi access points at the school that it said were unnecessarily left on. One of the arguments was regarding the level of radiation being emitted. The board said the access points were to remain on so the Wi-Fi could be accessed in various parts of the school at various times.
"The board has already made its decision on this. Nothing that I've ever read has said a cellphone tower is less powerful than an access point," Dance said of arguments to the contrary. He also noted trustees recently reaffirmed their support for the strategic plan, including Wi-Fi usage.
The board's objective in introducing Wi-Fi in all schools, Dance said, was equity and accessibility.
"The reason why we went to wireless is because, through the ICT strategic plan... we found that we didn't have the availability to have computer labs for every student," he said.
With wireless, "the computers move as opposed to the students," Dance said.
Among the information distributed to those in attendance at last week's meeting were results from surveys conducted by the school board as part of its ICT plan.
Rodney Palmer, who represents the Simcoe Safe School Committee, and whose kids attend Mountain View, noted the answers to one question in particular stood out.
The board asked: "How would you like to see technology used in schools?" One option was "Wi-Fi in school/more Internet." Zero per cent of parents chose that option, while 11% of the board's central staff, 34% of school staff and 16% of students chose it.
Also, only 8% of central staff and 1% of school staff identified "lack of Wi-Fi in schools" as a concern. Zero per cent of central staff and 19% of school staff considered wireless connection a priority.
Havas commended those who showed up at the meeting for taking an interest in the matter, and she encouraged them to keep the heat on the board.
"If you organized yourselves, you could be a very powerful group, and I think that's what you need to do," she said.
Earlier this week, the Simcoe County District School Board posted to its website letters from both Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky and Nina Arron, director of public health protection and prevention with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, in which they state their support for the board's use of Wi-Fi.
Both refer to Safety Code 6, with Dombrowsky stating Health Canada and the World Health Organization "have the scientific, technical and public policy knowledge" to deem the technology safe.
ntaylor@orilliapacket.com
PARENTS MOBILIZING
A group of concerned citizens, believing wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) is causing physical harm to school children, has taken various steps to inform the public on the matter.
"For the past few months, a group of parents have realized that approaching the board with delegations has not been working," Rodney Palmer said of the Simcoe County District School Board.
Palmer and other parents of Mountain View Elementary School students have made presentations to the board. They've been heard more than once; it's the results that have them upset, with the board having affirmed its support for Wi-Fi in its schools.
The Mountain View school council now has a Wi-Fi subcommittee, which was formed to further investigate the issue. Now, the Simcoe Safe School Committee has been formed.
"This is a plea to find out how widespread this novel collection of symptoms is," Palmer said. "We're asking the questions that are failing to be asked by the authorities."
The committee now has a website: www.safeschool.ca.
COMPLAINT FILED
A complaint has been filed against the Simcoe County District School Board's freedom of information and records management officer.
Rodney Palmer filed the complaint with the province's privacy commissioner on behalf of the Mountain View school council's Wi-Fi subcommittee, claiming Gina Coish "abused" the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).
The group had asked the board when Wi-Fi was installed and activated at Mountain View.
Coish recommended it be treated as a formal Freedom of Information request under MFIPPA because of potential student privacy concerns.
"This is not a privacy issue. This is a simple technical issue," Palmer said.
Debbie Clarke, communications manager with the board, said, "We cannot comment about individual FOI requests. We have an excellent set of procedures for processing FOI requests and we fully abide by our duties under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act."
ntaylor@orilliapacket.com
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