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Thermal and Nonthermal Mechanisms of the Biological Interaction of
Microwaves - Background on Dutch Study - Air Force leaders defend
use of PAVE PAWS - Reviewing Cancer Propaganda Day - Diet Trumping
Genes - Transgenic Lines Proven Unstable (24/10/03) |
Thermal
and Nonthermal Mechanisms of the Biological Interaction of
Microwaves
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract
For about fifty years, it has been reported that microwave
electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
had effects on humans which could not be explained by detectible
heating
of tissue.
Auditory responses to radar have been the best known of these
phenomena.
To account for
microwave hearing, many studies in the literature have adopted
a
rate-of-heating
hypothesis advanced by Foster and Finch in 1974. We show here
that
theoretical and
experimental studies supporting this hypothesis are weaker than
usually
assumed.
We develop a simple framework of understanding of EMR that may
be used
to explain microwave
hearing as a nonthermal, nonacoustic effect. We then extend
this
approach to other contexts,
pointing out several fundamental misconceptions confounding
the field.
EMR, especially wide-band EMR, primarily must have a nonthermal
effect
on living
tissue before conversion to heat. Auditory and tactile sensations,
central neurological
disability, and blood pressure loss have been documented, and
oncogenesis seems possible.
Except microwave hearing, parameters of irradiation causing
such effects
have not been
explored adequately and remain unknown. There appears not to
be any
forensic methodology to
prove the cause of harm at nonthermal levels.
John Michael Williams
--------
Background
on Dutch Study
------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2003 Contact: Janet Newton
Dutch Government Study Finds Non-Thermal Effects from Exposure
to Mobile
Telecommunications Antennas
Background Behind the Headlines
In late September 2003 the Netherlands Ministries of Economic
Affairs,
Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, and Health, Welfare
and
Sport released the results of a study of the effects on human
well being
and cognition from exposure to low-intensity radiofrequency/microwave
(RF/MW) radiation. The study outline characterizes the strength
of the
applied RF/MW fields (maximum 1V/m) as comparable to the field
strength
that the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research
(TNO)
has measured at the base of antenna towers, on rooftops, and
to the
maximum field strengths measured by TNO in people’s homes.
Statements in the conclusion section of the study include (emphasis
added):
From our research it is concluded that our hypotheses
to find no causal
relation between the presence of RF-fields and the measured
parameters
is rejected. We have found a statistically significant relation
between
UMTS-like fields with a field strength of 1 V/m and the Well
Being . . .
It is noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) definition
of
health reads as “a state of complete physical, mental and
social well
being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Within this
WHO definition, the perceived Well Being is part of health.
. . . The results are unlikely to be attributed to statistical
noise . .
. Note that each exposure frequency is associated with changes
in some
tasks or parameters, while other frequencies are not . . .
. . . In literature, it is speculated that the effects on the
cognitive
parameters may be explained by an unknown mechanism induced
by thermal
effects. In our study, it is shown that the thermal effects
are
negligible and therefore, an explanation based on thermal effects
seems
highly unlikely for effects on the cognitive parameters.
Currently the RF/MW exposure limits in The Netherlands endorse
guidelines similar to those recommended by the International
Council on
Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These guidelines
allow
exposures of up to 49V/M for the 900 MHz frequency range and
61 V/M for
1800 MHz frequency range. In the United States the exposure
limits
allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are 47
V/m and 61
V/m at those frequencies respectively.
Two articles from the journal Microwave News - A Report on Non-Ionizing
Radiation give much-needed context to the findings of this Dutch
government study entitled: "Electromagnetic fields generated
by mobile
telecommunication antennas can have effects on well-being."
Here, by permission of the publisher, is the pertinent text
of those
articles (emphasis added):
From the November/December 2000 issue, p.3, article entitled
"Dutch
Panel Advises Against Precautionary Limits for Towers:”
The precautionary principle should not be used as a basis for
RF/MW
exposure limits that protect against possible nonthermal effects,
the
Health Council of the Netherlands advises in a recent report.
Any precautionary measures must be based on a “reasonable
suspicion” of
health risks, argues a 12-member panel appointed by the council.
Such
health risks would be “virtually impossible” at the
levels found near
base stations, concludes the panel, chaired by Dr. Eric Roubos
of the
University of Nijmegen.
The report came in response to a September 1999 request from
the Dutch
ministries for housing and for health, which was prompted by
public
concerns about radiation from cellular towers. The council measured
radiation levels near a GSM antenna and found them to be “far
below” the
49 V/m limit (636 W/cm²) recommended by the council in 1997
(see MWN,
M/J97).
From the May/June 2003 issue, p. 3, “The Talk of
Dublin” an article
reporting on the May 2003 COST 281 Workshop: Mobile Phone Base
Stations
and Health, held in Dublin, Ireland:
Dr. Eric van Rongen of the Health Council of the Netherlands
in The
Hague is investigating the claims of those who say they are
electrosensitive. He presented the protocol for a study which
will
expose 36 self-described electrosensitives and 36 controls to
various
microwave signals at a power level of 1 V/M. “My impression
is that this
is a zero experiment,” commented Dr. Niels Kuster of IT’IS
in Zurich. He
wondered why van Rongen had not used higher exposures so that
he would
have had a better chance of picking up a response. Van Rongen
acknowledged that the field was very low but said that he was
bound by
the instructions of the ethics committee that had reviewed the
experiment.
“It’s very interesting that the committee would not
allow exposures up
to the ICNIRP level,” replied Kuster. (The Dutch health
council has
endorsed ICNIRP-type guidelines:” see MWN, M/J 1997. (ICNIRP
allows
exposures of up to 61 V/m at 2000 MHz.) Results are due this
summer. “My
expectation is that we will not see anything,” van Rongen
said.
Further thanks to Louis Slesin, publisher of Microwave News,
for
providing this official Press Release from the Netherlands Ministries
that sponsored this study on the effects of mobile telecommunications
antennas.
Press release of the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Housing,
Spatial
Planning and the Environment,
and Health, Welfare and Sport
Electromagnetic fields generated by mobile telecommunication
antennas
can have effects on well-being
A new study into the effects of electromagnetic (EM) fields
generated by
mobile telecommunication antennas on human beings shows a statistically
significant relationship between the well-being experienced
by the
investigated subjects (e.g. vertigo, tingling, concentration)
and
exposure to UMTS-like EM fields. Such relation has not been
found for
human well-being and exposure to GSM EM fields. The study further
shows
a significant relationship between GSM and UMTS EM fields and
cognitive
functions (reaction speed, alertness, memory, etc). In most
cases it
concerns an improvement of cognitive functioning. Such relation
has also
been found in previous studies.
The study, named COFAM (COgnitive Functions And Mobiles) has
been
performed by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific
Research TNO and was commissioned by the Ministries of Economic
Affairs,
of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, and of Health,
Welfare
and Sport. The Minister of Economic Affairs has sent the report
to the
Second Chamber of Parliament today.
The results of this study are taken very serious by the three
ministers,
but cannot at this point lead to final policy conclusions. The
setup and
results of this study are unique at this moment. Reproduction
by an
independent institute is necessary to confirm the results of
the TNO
study. The study does not allow conclusions to be made on whether
the
effect is permanent or reversible. The obvious question is:
"Is it
harmful?" This question cannot be answered on the basis of the
conclusions and recommendations of TNO. It is also not possible
to give
an unequivocal conclusion on a biological mechanism underlying
the
results. Follow-up studies will have to be performed, whereby
international cooperation will have to be sought. The report
will also
be sent to the European Commission.
The ministries have set up a call center to provide information
to the
public. The phone number is 0900-2683663.
Excerpts from the 89-page study:
Outline of the study
The study has been performed with two groups of 36 test subjects
each.
One group consisted of people that had been registered in the
past by
the Monitoring Network Health and Environment with symptoms
they
attributed to the presence of antennas. The other group is the
reference
group consisting of people without such symptoms. All subjects
have
performed several tests both in the presence and in the absence
of EM
fields comparable to those emitted by GSM and UMTS antennas.
The
strength of the applied fields (maximum 1 V/m) is comparable
to the
fields strength measured at the bottom of the antenna poles
at the
rooftop and to the maximum field strengths measured by TNO in
peoples'
homes. Using specific tests, information on cognitive functions
has been
obtained. Moreover, information has been asked by questionnaires
on
well-being. After consultation with a Medical Ethical Review
Committee,
a relevant section of an internationally recognized questionnaire
has
been used to this end, asking information on symptoms such as
vertigo,
fatigue and headache. The study has been performed double-blind,
meaning
that neither the study subjects nor the TNO investigators knew
during
the investigation whether EM fields were present or not. In
view of this
study design, it is highly unlikely that environmental factors
might
have been of influence on the results.
The effects observed from EM fields generated by the antennas
do not
necessarily apply to mobile telephones since the signal characteristics
of antennas and telephones are different. Moreover the biological
cause
of the observed results is unknown, preventing translation to
mobile
telephone use.
From pp. 61-63 - Conclusions and recommendations
The research is carried out according to rigorous scientific
standards
and exhibits no major problems with respect to methodology,
sample size,
and analysis. This is the result of two independent specialists
who have
reviewed the relevant documents.
From our research it is concluded that our hypotheses
to find no casual
relation between the presence of RF-fields and the measured
parameters
is rejected. We have found a statistically significant relation
between
UMTS-like fields with a field strength of 1 V/m and the Well
Being. Both
group A and group B show similar effects in the well-being results.
It
is noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) definition
of health
reads as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well
being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Within this
WHO
definition the perceived Well Being is part of health.
Also, a statistically significant difference is observed between
the
generally experienced Well Being within group A and group B.
The bias
introduced by the selection procedure together with the different
demographical structure between both groups makes a direct comparison
between group A and B invalid.
From the cognitive tasks, it is observed that a slightly
higher number
of significant effects is found in group B when compared to
group A. The
results are unlikely to be attributed to statistical noise.
From the 30
cognitive function tests, we found that eight cognitive function
tests
are statistically significant. Statistical noise could allow
up to four
false statistically significant results. Note that each exposure
frequency is associated with changes in some tasks or parameters,
while
other frequencies are not.
In literature, similar results on cognition are found. From
our results
and the available literature, it is not possible to speculate
on a
scientifically justified hypothesis to explain the potential
effects of
RF fields on cognition. However, one aspect can be tackled.
In
literature, it is speculated that the effects on the cognitive
parameters may be explained by an unknown mechanism induced
by thermal
effects. In our study, it is shown that the thermal effects
are
negligible and therefore, an explanation based on thermal effects
seems
highly unlikely for effects on the cognitive parameters.
An important scientific issue is the fact that relations that
are found
must be reproducible. Since this research is the first one to
find a
statistically significant relation on Well Being by using a
subset of
Bulpitt's questionnaire, reproduction of our research by a research
group independent of TNO is necessary.
Without any question, the results justify more scientific research
into
this area. Apart from the reproduction as mentioned above, research
is
recommended in the following areas:
* Examine a dose-response relation, decrease
and increase the radio
frequency field strength in order
to find the effects on the
dimensions found in the Well
Being.
* Examine whether a difference exists between
sex, and adult versus
children.
* Examine the biological mechanism to better
understand whether the
effects found can be ascribed
to physical quantities and to better
understand the impact to health
related questions.
* Examine the biological mechanism within
the brain functions to
understand the potential effects
on cognitive tasks.
* Examine the effect of different pulse forms
and frequencies used.
* Examine why some cognitive function tests
exhibit responses to an
RF stimulus while other cognitive
function tests do not.
* Examine if the effects found for the UMTS-like
signal also hold
for other CDMA signals.
For further information contact the Netherlands Organization
for Applied
Scientific Research (TNO) at: info@fel.tno.nl
A print version is available in PDF format at:
http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/headlines/index.htm
Janet Newton
The EMR Policy Institute, P.O. Box 117, Marshfield VT 05658
Tel: (802) 426-3035 FAX: (802) 426-3030
Web Site: www.emrpolicy.org
--------
Don,
Note that Richard Albanese acknowledges through his research
that
chronic exposure to phased array signals could have adverse
health
consequences.
Libby Kelley
The Boston Herald
Air
Force leaders defend use of PAVE PAWS
------------------------------------------------
By Doreen Leggett / dleggett@cnc.com
Friday, October 17, 2003
The PAVE PAWS radar is not "unique," Air Force representatives
say, and
if it does have health effects, then people should be concerned
about
more than the radar on Sagamore's Flat Rock Hill.
Lt. Col. Paul J Legendre, a bioenvironmental engineer with the
Air
Force, said that "phased arrays," of which PAVE PAWS is one,
have many
commercial uses. Furthermore, the wave form that residents are
concerned with - a measurement of one volt per meter per nanosecond
- is
found in most radar systems.
Legendre made his comments as the National Academy of Sciences
is
examining whether PAVE PAWS can be compared to other radar sources.
After a number of residents expressed concerns about possible
health
effects from the installation, Sen. Edward Kennedy tapped NAS
to study
the issue.
In the interim, the Air Force is also funding studies - spearheaded
by
the PAVE PAWS public health steering group - to ascertain whether
the
high cancer rates on the Cape can be linked to PAVE PAWS.
The Air Force has consistently maintained that PAVE PAWS is
far below
regulatory safety standards that are put in place by the Institute
of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Concerned residents, however, have said that standard is based
only on
whether human cells are heated or not. Their concerns are that
the
continual pulses from the radar can cause damage because their
"unique" wave pattern can cause a cell to vibrate and disrupt
its proper
function.
Those concerns have been backed by the Air Force's Dr. Richard
Albanese
who has done classified work with phased arrays in the lab.
Although he
is careful not to say that PAVE PAWS is harmful to human
health, he does say that it is possible.
Albanese has said the effect could be akin to bending a paper
clip, a
few bends will do little harm, but in a short while the metal
will break.
Legendre offers a different view: If you hit a paper clip with
a feather
a thousand times will it break?
The standard Albanese said officials should be concerned with
is one
volt per meter per nanosecond. If that threshold is crossed
it should be
seen as a warning sign and a call for more studies.
Last month, in a report released by a research team that Albanese
was
part of, measurements of PAVE PAWS did exceed one volt per meter
per
nanosecond.
That announcement bulwarked the arguments of residents who said
they
wanted the facility shut down (Albanese has not supported that
idea).
But, said Legendre, the residents appeared to ignore Albanese's
comments
in response to a question by a member of the NAS panel.
When he was asked whether that threshold was significant in
any radar,
Albanese said yes.
But Legendre counters that one can measure one vote per meter
nanosecond
from "the noise, of all RF (radar frequencies) in the whole
world."
"If there is biological effect ... we should be concerned everywhere,"
he said. "If is a key point. We don't know if it's significant
at all."
Others don't agree and say that threshold can only be found
in high
power microwave systems, such as the "E-bomb." E-bombs, or
electro-magnetic bombs, destroy most machines that use electricity
(and can cripple a city) but minimize civilian casualties.
Legendre said the final determination would be up to NAS, which
will
make its decision at the end of 2004. In the meantime, the PAVE
PAWS
public health steering committee is moving forward on the studies
for which it has contracted.
In related news, Richard and Sharon Judge, Sandwich residents
who have
long expressed reservations about PAVE PAWS, have requested
and been
assigned a case number by the General Accounting Office. The
Judges have asked the GAO to look into government waste and
wrongdoing
when it comes to the health of Cape Codders. One concern they
have is
that Albanese's research reports, on phased arrays, were withheld
from
the public when the Air Force was conducting its environmental
impact
statement for the system.
Informant: Don Maisch
--------
Reviewing
Cancer Propaganda Day
-------------------------------------
Dear Robert Riedlinger,
Yesterday I was thinking about what you had written- we must
press on
the point that the Cancer Societies see suffering people everyday
and do
nothing about the causes.
It was while I was watching the annual emotional show: singers
in white
cloths singing emotional songs, emotional stories of the lucky
people
who survived the lethal chemo and radiation, yes, it was the
show of:
"We will make you cry, and you will give us more money" day.
Yesterday
was a very calculated day. In the morning the newspaper exposed
"new
data from the health ministry":
1 from 3 israelies will have cancer. Survival rate: 50% [50%
says :or
yes, or no. It says nothing].
1 from 8 women will have breast cancer." The director of cancer
registry
told us that only part of the causes of cancer are known and
listed the
life style causes- smoking, nutrition, lack of exercise, some
viruses,
the sun.
Robert De Niro was pictured cited "I have cancer" with details
about his
disease. A guy who had cancer as a child and was the star of
the
advertisment of the Association for Fighting Cancer for years,
and
became a healthy adult, was pictured as a proof that everybody
can win
cancer.
Another newspaper had yeasterday a 27 pages supplement called
"Fighting
cancer", with many drug industry "new breakthroughs" (so many
breakthroughs that the cancer rate just grows every year), but
one
article cited a scandinavian new study that shows that environmental
+
life style factors influence more than genetics, another cited
the
Association for Cancer Fighting website that relaxes us: The
cellular
phones are not a real danger, it's not more dangerous than the
microwave
oven. "For every 5 experts that say it's dangerous, 5 others
will say
no" revealed the article.
And in the evening, the big show came:some of the few People
who
survived chemo and radiation and so many operations, and bone
marrow
transplant. And one woman who cut her both breasts, and put
silicon, by
the way not because she had cancer in both breasts, but because
she was
told that "I have the damaged gene in the other breast, so I
am about to
have cancer on the other breast also". Yes, we live in a country
where
you are educated to cut before you even have cancer. No one
explains
here that a damaged gene can be prevented from creating the
cancer. Why
prevent when you can just cut? Yes, women here cut their ovaries,
uterus, together with the breasts, "Just in case". None tells
them that
cancer is a systemic disease and that cutting does not prevent
it from
coming back, on the left organs. But all the time their was
the brain
wash on the screen: "Cancer can be prevented" [but we won't
tell you
how] but only when you "go to early detection". Because according
to the
numbers of the Association for Fighting Cancer, women who go
to early
detection, reduce their risk in 90%" this is in total contrast
to the
real data numbers, but who counts?
As long as we cry and open our wallet, we are told everything.
And
children, the children who suffer so much from cancer and the
horrible
treatments the go through "We want to be normal", "Why do I
have to
die"? "People look at me differently because I am bald, but
I am not
different", it makes you wonder- How can they continue with
this cynical
game on people, and how do you make people see that, when they
are so
swept by the cancer propaganda, by the false data, the avoidance
from
telling the truth to people. But the cancer production is so
well done,
with so many tears, and again people will say : They do such
a wonderful
job, they really help people". It's only that they are totally
controled
by the industry and play the same game, with our money.
So who will really fight cancer? The director of the Association
cancer
society said that her target is to "defeat cancer". Her husband
is the
manager of a chemical waste site, the biggest chemcial waste
site in Israel.
Will she ever mention "environmental chemicals" in her "defeat"
plan?
with her budget of about 50 million shekels? So who will fight
cancer?
Best,
Iris Atzmon
Comment: Dr. Miguel Muntané
No one explains here that a damaged gene can be "prevented from
creating
the cancer".
* Why prevent when you can just cut?
1. brain wash on the screen: "Cancer can be prevented" [but
we won't
tell you how] but only when you "go to early detection".
2. it was the show of: "We will make you cry, and you will give
us more
money" day.
3. The director of the Association cancer society said that
her target
is to "defeat cancer". Her husband is the manager of a chemical
waste
site, the biggest chemical waste site in Israel.
* go to early detection? = $$$$$
* just cut? = $$$$$
--------
Diet
Trumping Genes
-----------------------
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/DTG.php
Transgenic
Lines Proven Unstable
------------------------------------
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/TLPU.php
--------
O.T.
themes:
Senator Robert C. Byrd: Our Emperor Has No Clothes
http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=43256:740526
--------
Fatal Vision:
"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many,
So why
should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" Barbara
Bush
(mother of GW Bush)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5039.htm
Soldiers ripe to resist?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5037.htm
Army Probes Treatment of Ill Iraq Veterans
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/national/21SOLD.html?ex=1067707770&ei=1&en=754fd52b14b2122c
GW Bush and the Veterans
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5032.htm
Abandoning Human Rights Principles
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5030.htm
Protests greet Bush in Australia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3204585.stm
A Must Listen
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5052.htm
Keep God out of White House
http://www.orion-online.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/10/22/3f95c469462ed
What's Really Going On In Iraq
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5055.htm
--------
Report: Iraqi civilian deaths "questionable"
http://tinyurl.com/rpo7
Say what you like, but don't expect Bush to hear
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/20/1066631356196.html
US commander: Iraq attacks increasing
http://tinyurl.com/s0iy
Enlightened self-interest
http://www.libertyforall.net/2003/archive/oct31/enlightened.html
The national defense myth
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/myth-nationaldefense.html
Damn our irresponsible politicians
http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/10/23
Bush's faltering war against terror
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3322.shtml
Cheney's the one
http://www.antiwar.com/ips/lobe102303.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
The war that could destroy both armies
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EJ23Ak01.html
Informant: kevcross5
--------
Ray McGovern: Holding Leaders Accountable for Untruths About
War
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles9/McGovern_Wilkie.htm
--------
Spending $87 Billion to Defend and Rebuild Iraq
Do the Numbers Add Up?
http://www.commoncause.org/news/default.cfm?ArtID=237
U.S. Posts Record $374 Billion Budget Gap
http://tinyurl.com/rnqf
Informant: Jean Hudon |
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