Thursday, July 30, 2009

Tanning beds definitely cause cancer / 'No doubt' sunbeds cause cancer / Power Lines / Wireless Broadband over Powerlines / Powerful painting / Toronto EMF workshop

Hi All

There are two stories below, about tanning beds 'definitely' causing cancer. 

One thing that the researchers have failed to mention, is that there is more to consider than just UV radiation.  There is no mention of electro magnetic fields from the electrical wiring and equipment used in the tanning beds.  There is also no mention of high frequency 'dirty electricity' that would be generated by the fluorescent lighting and other electronic equipment used inside the tanning beds. 

Both of these 'electrical pollutants' are significant health risk factors that should also be considered by the researchers.

Martin Weatherall

www.weepinitiative.org

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Tanning beds, UV radiation definitely cause cancer: study

Maria Cheng

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tanning-beds-uv-radiation-definitely-cause-cancer-study/article1235010/

LONDON — Associated Press Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2009 01:38PM EDT

International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category deeming both to be definite causes of cancer.

For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as "probable carcinogens."

A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 per cent when people start using tanning beds before age 30.

Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused worrying mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.

The new classification means tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others.

The research was published online in the medical journal Lancet Oncology on Wednesday by experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.

"People need to be reminded of the risks of sunbeds," said Vincent Cogliano, one of the cancer researchers. "We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don't think they need to use sunbeds to get a tan."

Mr. Cogliano said the classification means experts are confident that tanning beds cause cancer, but he noted they may not be as potent as other carcinogens like tobacco or arsenic.

Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which cause skin and eye cancer. As use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer, though most types of skin cancer are benign.

According to the studies reviewed by Mr. Cogliano and colleagues, using tanning beds caused about a 20 per cent increased relative risk of developing melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer.

Mr. Cogliano said it was impossible to know how many benign skin cancers might be caused by tanning beds, because of complicating factors like exposure to regular sunlight. He and colleagues examined data from more than 7,000 melanoma cases and found a strong association between tanning bed use and the disease. He compared the link to that found between tobacco and lung cancer.

In Britain, melanoma is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s. Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75. According to a British study from 2003, about 100 people every year die of melanoma attributable to tanning beds.

Previous studies found younger people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. In the past, WHO warned people younger than 18 to stay away from tanning beds.

The American Cancer Society advises people to try bronzing or self-tanning creams instead of tanning beds.

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'No doubt' sunbeds cause cancer

There is no doubt using a sunbed or sunlamp will raise the risk of skin cancer, say international experts.

Previously, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) assessed sunbeds and sunlamps as "probably carcinogenic to humans".

But it now says their use is definitively "carcinogenic to humans".

Campaigners believe the move, announced in the journal Lancet Oncology, will increase pressure for tighter industry regulation of sunbed use.

The new assessment puts sunbed use on a par with smoking or exposure to asbestos.

However, the Sunbed Association in the UK said there was no proven link between the responsible use of sunbeds and skin cancer.

The IARC is an expert committee that makes recommendations to the World Health Organization.

It made its decision following a review of research which concluded that the risk of melanoma - the most deadly form of skin cancer - was increased by 75% in people who started using sunbeds regularly before the age of 30.

In addition, several studies have linked sunbed use to a raised risk of melanoma of the eye.

The charity Cancer Research UK warned earlier this year that heavy use of sunbeds was largely responsible for the number of Britons being diagnosed with melanoma topping 10,000 a year for the first time.

In the last 30 years, rates of the cancer have more than quadrupled, from 3.4 cases per 100,000 people in 1977 to 14.7 per 100,000 in 2006.

Age limits

Proposals to ban people under the age of 18 from using sunbeds are under consideration by the government in England.

A similar ban has already been approved in Scotland.

The Sunbed Association (TSA) supports a ban on under-16s, but argues there is no scientific evidence for a ban on young people aged 17 or 18.

Jessica Harris, Cancer Research UK's health information officer said: "The link between sunbeds and skin cancer has been convincingly shown in a number of scientific studies now and so we are very pleased that IARC have upgraded sunbeds to the highest risk category.

"This backs up Cancer Research UK's advice to avoid sunbeds completely for cosmetic purposes. They have no health benefits and we know that they increase the risk of cancer."

Ms Harris called for ministers to implement a ban on under-18s using sunbeds immediately, and to close salons that are not supervised by trained staff.

Simon Davies, chief executive of the Teenage Cancer Trust said: "We are concerned that young people are using sunbeds more and more to get a tan and would urge them to avoid them at all costs."

Kathy Banks, chief executive of the Sunbed Association, said: "The relationship between ultraviolet exposure and an increased risk of developing skin cancer is only likely to arise where over-exposure - burning - has taken place.

"However, research has shown that over 80% of sunbed users are very knowledgeable about the risks associated with over-exposure to ultraviolet and the majority of sunbed users take 20 or less sunbed sessions a year."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Sunbeds can be dangerous - we must ensure that people who use them do so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people."

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8172690.stm
Published: 2009/07/28 23:21:02 GMT

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Well, Well, Well: Power Lines

What they'll say ...

Connie Howard / health@vueweekly.com

http://www.vueweekly.com:80/article.php?id=12548

Of course those who want to put the high-voltage power line through west Edmonton are going to hear the concerns of nearby residents, and of course they're going to, after they've heard those concerns, repeat assurances that there's no evidence of reason to worry and then go ahead and do what they want to do.
I hope I'm wrong, but what I expect they'll do is create so much doubt about potential risks that those who are still uneasy will begin to believe they're being paranoid. They'll assert that there is no compelling evidence of significant health hazards associated with power lines, that the science has been conclusively negative and there's nothing to worry about. They'll say that where a link has been found, it was a poorly designed study. Or things like, well, there was an association here, or there, but we don't know that it wasn't just coincidental.
They'll say all that just like they say there is no proven link between oil industry pollution and cancer clusters, or nuclear power plants and cancer clusters, or between mercury in vaccines and autism even though it is a matter of well-known fact that mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Or like they used to say there was no proven link between the 1976 swine flu vaccine and Guillain Barre, or between smoking and cancer.
They'll cite the consensus of major health organizations like Health Canada, and overlook their history of negotiating in favour of industry, and firing scientists who prefer precaution to good industry relations. They'll say it's silly to be fearful, even though five years ago a massive US study found children under the age of 15 living within 100 metres of high-voltage power lines have close to twice the risk of developing leukemia, and even though a BC study four years ago yielded similarly damning results, and even though an Australian study two years ago found a 300 percent increased cancer risk.
They'll say there's nothing to fear, even though countless studies have given us reason to fear, and even though the Canadian Cancer Society doesn't recommend parents let children play under power lines. But what's a parent to do when the high voltage power lines just happen to be going up in their backyard and property values are going down, and the job is uncertain and a move is out of the question?
They'll defend the power-line plans even though a major report prepared by 14 scientists and public health experts in 2007—the BioInitiative Working Group—for the purpose of doing a comprehensive assessment of the science on health impacts of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) concluded it is clear "that the existing public safety standards limiting these radiation levels in nearly every country of the world look to be thousands of times too lenient. Changes are needed."
"There may be no lower limit at which exposures do not affect us," they write. "It is time that planning for new power lines and for new homes, schools and other habitable spaces around them is done with routine provision for low-ELF [extremely low frequency] environments." The group's review of the science found that exposure to EMR has been linked not only to childhood leukemia, but to a very long list of health problems.
But when it comes to industry, it's innocent until proven guilty, necessary to demonstrate a consistent and significant causal relationship, and until then, it's all alarmist and unsubstantiated fear-mongering. And when it comes to matters of natural health therapies it's the opposite—they're ineffective and dangerous until proven 100 percent safe and effective beyond a shadow of doubt.
In the end, while we debate the precautionary principle and talk about conclusive science and which risks are worth taking and which aren't, we have the heartbreaking realities of the canaries in the mine, the small percentage that sometimes can't prove causation, but have lost someone to leukemia since their move to a high-voltage power-line neighbourhood. Stories that, if we were smart, we would actually listen to and validate rather than dismiss as coincidental.

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Wireless Broadband over Powerlines

BPL - Alabama USA
http://www.bpl.coop/
Austria - Radio effected by BPL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGA4MCNeN7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkp561RMQAw
http://www.ambientcorp.com/press_releases/pr_2009_0304_JMA.html
Qualcomm, Verizon Plan Smart Grid Services as Part of New JV
http://broadbandoverpowerlines.blogspot.com/
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Broadband-Over-Powerline-BPL-Stumbles-94078
http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/1303297~a71ed84c8db81f6394bd280bf41bebe6/BPL.gif
http://www.bitpipe.com/tlist/Broadband-over-Power-Line.html

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Powerful painting

Margaret Atchison makes an artistic statement on the power lines with her entry in juried exhibition in Tsaw.

Sandor Gyarmati

The Delta Optimist

http://www2.canada.com/deltaoptimist/news/story.html?id=338a55bc-db7a-4006-8ab3-cd37536b529a
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Margaret Atchison's Power to the People is on display in the South Delta Artists' Guild's Oil & Water juried show at the Kiwanis Centre for the Visual Arts in Tsawwassen. Atchison and her husband sold their home along the right-of-way in the voluntary buy-out program.

CREDIT: photo by Sandor Gyarmati

Margaret Atchison's Power to the People is on display in the South Delta Artists' Guild's Oil & Water juried show at the Kiwanis Centre for the Visual Arts in Tsawwassen. Atchison and her husband sold their home along the right-of-way in the voluntary buy-out program.

It's intense, angry and riveting.

That's how local resident and artist Margaret Atchison sees her painting depicting the new higher voltage power lines in Tsawwassen, a work that's on display at the Kiwanis Centre for the Visual Arts.

The painting, Atchison's first displayed piece, is part of a juried show of works in mixed media by various artists that opened last Thursday at the gallery adjacent to the South Delta Recreation Centre.

"I felt very intense and angry. The more I painted, the angrier I got. I may be a crazy artist because of all the electromagnetic fields that entered my brain," quips Atchison of her work in the exhibit sponsored by the South Delta Artists' Guild.

Atchison's piece in acrylic, pumice and gel, titled Power to the People, is in an exhibit the guild is calling Oil & Water. The painting in bright reds and yellows is aimed at sending a powerful message how people's every molecule have been bombarded with intensified electromagnetic fields (EMF), says Atchison.

"I have also attempted to express the heat and formation of radiation swirling in the atmosphere. The people feel like ants being exposed to radiation, hopeless and helpless, and no chance of escape," she says in her description.

The B.C. Transmission Corporation installed higher voltage lines through Tsawwassen last summer. Since then, more than 100 homeowners living next to the lines have accepted buy-out offers from B.C. Hydro and many of those homes have already been vacated.

Atchison, who also agreed to sell her home but is still looking for somewhere else to live in the community, was a member of Tsawwassen Residents Against Higher Voltage Overhead Lines, which her husband Neil co-chaired at one point.

The group and other citizens waged a long and bitter struggle to stop the project, going to court and even coming up with an alternative proposal to bury the lines. In the end, the lines were installed overhead as originally planned.

BCTC claims the EMF from the lines are within World Health Organization guidelines. In an interview last fall, Brita Colero, community action co-ordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society's B.C./Yukon division, said the cancer society's position regarding EMF is that it recommends the precautionary principle. However, she also noted there is no research, to date, that has found a conclusive link between living next to power lines and childhood leukemia.

Atchison says she's concerned they have passed off the risk to a new group of homeowners, and many of those could potentially be young families with children.

Atchison's painting received what's called a Merchandise Award, one of 12 award categories given for the various works at the exhibit, which runs until Aug. 30.

President Sylvia Bishop says the group's shows display a wide array of works by both talented guild and non-guild artists from throughout the Lower Mainland.

The Kiwanis gallery is open Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information about the guild, visit www.deltaartguild.org.

© The Delta Optimist 2009

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Consider taking advantage now of our special, early bird special for the Toronto EMF workshop,

valid till Friday, July 31, 2009!

Our toll-free number is: (888) 639-7730

www.essentia.ca

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DJ Steve Miller's story of developing electro magnetic sensitivity when triggered by WiFi, has been round the world now several times, even  BBC radio have covered  the link between ES and WiFi, Jeremy Vine, 24.7.09 and Steve Wright 28.7.09.
Please feel free to comment to BBC Radio or these newspaper links about your own case of ES. We have heard that Fox News are seeking out ES to interview in California.
Kind regards
Sarah Dacre
Trustee
ES-UK
www.es-uk.info

Google News Alert for: electromagnetic sensitivity

Meet the man who is allergic to Wi-Fi
Indian Express - New Delhi,India
In a world of increased usage of Wi-Fi signal in businesses and homes, Miller is among around two per cent of the population who suffer from Electromagnetic ...
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"Wi-fi allergy" allegedly tormenting 2% of the population
The Inquisitr - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
Wi-fi allergy, or "electromagnetic sensitivity," might keep 2% of the population away from Starbucks and McDonald's for the foreseeable future. ...

DJ Steve Miller is hit by dizziness , confusion and nausea whenever he ? s near a wi - fi connection

Allergic to wi-fi! How 'electrosmog' leaves Afterlife DJ in agony
Daily Mail - UK
The condition, known as electromagnetic sensitivity, affects two per cent of the population, and this is set to grow as more people opt for wireless ...

The man who is 'allergic' to Wi-Fi
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
... of his sensitivity to the "electrosmog" cause by wireless internet waves. ... population who claim they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensetivity, ...

The man who is allergic to Wi-Fi
Irish Independent - Dublin,Ireland
... of his sensitivity to the "electrosmog" caused by wireless internet waves. He is among around two pc of the population who suffer from Electromagnetic ...

Reality check: the truth about electrosmog and wifi allergies
Stuff.tv
But it says in this Daily Mail story that "electromagnetic sensitivity, affects two per cent of the population". But it doesn't say where that statistic ...
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Wi-Fi torments
Little About
... assor tment of applications of Wi-Fi signal in businesses and homes, Miller, along with few others, is suffering from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity. ...
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THE WOODSTOCK ONTARIO INDEPENDENT NEWS: Colwood, BC...Canadas ...
By jim bender
In an unprecedented move, the City of Colwood on Vancouver Island in western Canada, has declared August Electromagnetic Sensitivity Month (EMS). Although a first for Canada, many countries around the world recognize that EMS is a ...
THE WOODSTOCK ONTARIO INDEPENDENT NEWS - http://jimbenderoxford.blogspot.com/