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(See above links for more information)
More information on EMF
 The
IARC, a division of the World Health Organization,
has recently classified
low-frequency EMF as a Group 2B, possible carcinogen. It thereby
agrees the the recommendation of a Working Group convened in the US in
1998.
A three-fold
increase in overall spontaneous abortions and a six-fold increase in
spontaneous abortions occurring before the 10th week of pregnancy is
associated with even momentary exposure to magnetic fields greater than 16
mG. This is the conclusion of new
research by Dr. De-Kun Li reported in the January 2002 issue of Epidemiology. Similar results were found
in a separate paper
on spontaneous abortions prepared for the project by G. M. Lee which is
printed in the same issue.
The results of nine major studies on EMF are reversed in
a
major
analysis, Most of these studies originally had failed to find a link between
electromagnetic fields (EMF) and cancer. The new review concludes
that, upon reanalysis, the data used in the earlier studies do identify an
association between cancer and EMF. The authors of the new analysis are
the same researchers who headed the earlier studies that had failed to
find an association. (See also the
appraisal
of this study in the industry journal, Microwave
News.) The authors now conclude, “The level of [statistical]
significance that we see for the excess risk at high [EMF] exposure makes
chance an unlikely explanation.”
A
doubling of risk among children with average exposures above 4 mG is
"unlikely to be due to chance," according to ICNIRP, a leading European quasi-governmental authority on the
dangers of radiation. In a
detailed review of the
literature on ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), the ICNIRP believes that
the data "point toward a possible risk increase."
A
dose-responsive relationship between magnetic fields from power lines and
asthma and combined chronic illnesses is identified in
a
new Australian study. The study concludes, "The results are consistent with a
possible adverse effect of environmental magnetic field exposure on
immune-related and other illnesses."
 EMF
dangers are summarized in
an
April 18, 2002, article in the journal, "E".
The highly respected industry journal
Microwave News
concludes
there is a scientific consensus people exposed to above-average
levels of EMF experience "a clear and consistent pattern" of
increased cancer risk."
Laboratories in Hanover Germany were able to show that magnetic fields
increased the number of breast tumors in experimental rats. However,
the US Battelle laboratory in the US was unable to duplicat ethis results.
This paper by the lead authors of the two research efforts suggest the
reason for the divergent results may be the fact that Battelle used a
different substrain of rates from those used in Germany.
Testimony
Presented in Connection with the SE Metro Lines
Columbia University's Martin Blank
discusses
how magnetic fields impact cellular function and how such fields may
promote the growth of cancer. He notes that EMF reduces the body's
concentration of melatonin, which inhibits cancer, and reduces the
effectiveness of the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen. (Here is Blank's
background.)
Trent Unversity's Magda Havas
reviews
the scientific literature. (In her verbal testimony, she noted that
the Russian
and Polish literature also had much evidence on the cancer-causing impact
of EMF. (Here is
Havas' CV)
CAI hired Peter Valberg, who was charged with minimizing the dangers of
EMF.
Here
is his testimony, with links to those pages in the PLTF's experts
presentations that respond to his points. (Here is
Valberg's CV.)
Martin Blank responds
to the Valberg Testimony as does
Havas.
Here is the transcript
of the meeting at which the experts testified.
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Major Studies