Dr. Peter A. Valberg March 2001

Dr. Peter Valberg is Principal at Gradient Corporation and was for 25 years a faculty member in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). During his full-time tenure at HSPH, Dr. Valberg researched and taught toxicology, cell biology, environmental health, and public health. His teaching included Human Physiology, Inhalation Toxicology, Risk Assessment, and EMF/RF Case Studies. One of the research programs Dr. Valberg directed at HSPH was “Magnetic Field Effects on Macrophages,” supported by the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Valberg has served on advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Health Effects Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency. He assisted the NIH in reviewing EMF research proposals that come to the Radiation Study Section for possible funding by NIH. He is a member of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, the Health Physics Society, and the Bioelectromagnetic Society. Through the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Dr. Valberg was a member of the “Harvard Advisory Committee on EMF and Human Health” as well as the “Peer Review Board on Cellular Telephones and Human Health.”

Dr. Valberg's background includes physics, physiology, and public health expertise. He holds advanced degrees both in physics and physiology, and he has served on university faculties both in physics and in public health. Dr. Valberg is the author of over 80 peer-reviewed articles on environmental health and cell biology, and he advises researchers in the physical phenomena associated with EMF/RF, the relevant biology, and the human epidemiology. Dr. Valberg has directed health risk assessments for municipal health departments, utilities, regulatory agencies, government, and industry on evaluation of potential health effects of chemical exposures and of electromagnetic radiation (EMF/RF). He is a member of the Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR), which periodically reviews RF standards for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Dr. Valberg has studied EMF health effects for over ten years. He made presentations at several Bioelectromagnetic Society Annual Conferences (1991, 1992, and 1997), as well as at the EMF Contractors Conference (1993, 1994). Dr. Valberg assisted the Health Effects Institute in determining the feasibility of launching an EMF research program, and he published a summary document on “EMF Mechanisms” in the journal Radiation Research. At the request of the International Congress on Radiation Research (ICRR), Dr. Valberg organized and chaired a symposium on “Physical aspects of EMF / RF effects on biological systems,” at the 11th Annual ICRR meeting in Dublin, Ireland (July, 1999).

Dr. Valberg holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics from Harvard University, an M.S. degree in Physiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and an A.B. degree summa cum laude in Physics and Mathematics from Taylor University.

Dr. Valberg’s recent (1998-2001) EMF / RF projects include (1) transmission-line EMF evaluation presented to the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council, (2) work for the Health Department in the City of Newton, MA, on evaluation of RF levels from antenna towers that were being upgraded, (3) an analysis for the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Wireless Collaborative on how zoning for cell telephone base antennas can be integrated with the science of RF and health, (4) measurements for the Board of Selectmen in Pembroke (NH) to evaluate RF levels around transmitting antennas on Plausawa Hill, (5) a review of RF health effects for the Church of Christ, Congregational, of Goshen, CT, on the health issues involved in placement of a cell telephone base antenna in the church steeple, (6) performing and reviewing ambient RF measurements for the Town of Reading, and (7) providing RF overview lectures to the City of Boston, MA; the Town of Wayland, MA; and the Cape Cod Commission.

Dr. Valberg's Recent Publications on RF / EMF:

Valberg, P.A. 2000. Comparison of endogenous forces in cells to RF- and EMF–produced forces. Radiation Research, Volume 2: Proceedings of the 11 th International Congress of Radiation Research, (Moriarity, M., et al., Editors) International Association of Radiation Research. Allen Press, Lawrence, KS, 2000. pp. 219- 221.

Valberg, P.A., R. Kavet, and C.N. Rafferty. 1997. Can low-level 60-Hz electric and magnetic fields cause biological effects? Radiation Research 148:2-21.

Valberg, P.A. 1997. Radio-frequency radiation: the nature of exposure and carcinogenic potential. Cancer Causes and Control 8:326-335.

Valberg, P.A. (Harvard, multi-author report). 1996. Harvard report on cancer prevention. Volume 1: Causes of human cancer. [pp. S49-S54 “Electric and Magnetic Fields”] Cancer Causes & Control 7 (Supplement 1):S1- S59.

Valberg, P.A. 1996. Electric and magnetic fields (EMF): What do we know about the health effects? International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 68:448-454.

Valberg, P.A. 1995. Designing EMF experiments: What is required to characterize “Exposure”? Bioelectromagnetics 16:396-401.

Valberg, P.A. 1993. A public health framework for addressing a layperson's perception of EMF health risk. Electricity and Magnetism in Biology and Medicine. (Martin Blank, Ed.) San Francisco Press. pp. 273-277.

Valberg, P.A. (Health Effects Institute, multi-author report). 1993. “Do electric or magnetic fields cause adverse health effects? HEI's research plan to narrow the uncertainties.” The final report of HEI's EMF Planning Committee to the HEI Board of Directors. June, 1993, Cambridge, MA. pp. 1-131.

Dr. Valberg’s Invited Presentations on RF / EMF (1995 - present) :

“Health Issues in Siting Base Antennas for Cellular Telephone Systems” Telecommunications Hearing. Boston City Council Hearing, Boston, MA (March, 2001).

“Useful Concepts in the Physics of RF” RF Safety: Science, Compliance and Communication, Electromagnetic Energy Association and the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX (2000).

“How do Endogenous Forces Compare to EM Forces and Torques on Electrical Charges and Magnetite?” 11 th International Congress of Radiation Research, Dublin Inst. of Technology, Dublin, Ireland (1999).

“Panel Discussion on Health Effects of Wireless Technology.” Cape Cod Commission, Forum convened at Cape Cod Community College, Barnstable, MA (1999).