* Mobile phones in cars
can increase cancer risk - DNA And The Microwave Effect - EMF-News (5/10/02)
Tramès per Klaus Rudolph (Citizens'
Initiative Omega)
The Danish engineering mag "Ingeniøren"
(the engineer) has this story last week:
"Mobile phones
in cars can increase cancer risk" is
the headline.
Citing Christoffer Johansen, research director for cancer.dk, he
says "...the temperaturen inside the brain of Denmarks ca. 4 million
mobile subscribers increases with 1/4 degree (centigrade) after 1/2 hours
use...this causes concentration difficulties...." He suggests that
the antenna should be moved outside the car, to decrease the risk. The
auto manufacturer Daimler/Chrysler has issued a warning to customers not
to use mobile phones in cars unless the car has an outside antenna. About
1/3 of Daimler/Chrysler's customers have external antennas mounted on
their new cars. The new article also referes to the previous articles
on mobile phones inside train cars, which we have previously discussed
in this group, and the Danish/Swedish studies of mobile phone and cancer
also previously posted to this group.
Scott Hill
webmaster@frontiersciences.zzn.com
Informant: cheesedanish2001@yahoo.com
Dear Klaus: I'm really worried what
is being done to Lisa below, and a lot of it is not motivated my goodwill
for our EHS cuase. Rather, it is the opposite. Have also just had an email
from a friend activist in Canada and his email address has been hijacked
and virus laden attachments are bein sent in his name!
Klaus, please forward Lisa's plea below to your large Cc list and ask
them to delete her name immediately. I'm sure you are also aware
that all who profess to be supporting us need not have honest intentions!
Happens to all activist groups, especially ones that are a threat.
By the way, I am so glad you have extended the debate to include energy
weapons. The bio-effects of these are just an extension--and at times
a duplication-- of what EHS sufferers feel. Will get back to you on this
later. Have to rush here at public library. Time is up.
Let's get Lisa's email off all listings, as soon as possible.
Best,
Imelda
Lisa Gormley wrote:
Subject:
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 09:39:57 +0100
From: Lisa Gormley
To: "Imelda O'Connor" <ehsisreal@yahoo.co.uk>
Imelda,
How are you? Do you recall a week or so ago you e-mailed me to say that
you make sure that my e-mail address was taken off the general
distribution lists? I don't think I have been removed from them - I am
still receiving a lot of messages, most of which are in languages I
don't understand! Many of the attachments have viruses as well.
I
wonder if you could check this out for me again? Many thanks Imelda,
Regards,
Lisa Gormley
Administrative Officer
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
-
DNA And The Microwave
Effect
Penn State University
January 20, 2001
Can microwaves disrupt the
covalent bonds of DNA? The fundamentals of
thermodynamics and physics indicate this is impossible. Numerous studies
have concluded that there is no evidence to support the existence
of the
'Microwave Effect', and yet, some recent studies have demonstrated
that
microwaves are capable of breaking the covalent bonds of DNA. The
exact
nature of this phenomenon is not well understood, and no theory
currently exists to explain it. This report summarizes the history
of
the controversy surrounding the microwave effect, and the latest
research results.
The effectiveness of microwaves for sterilization has been well
established by numerous studies over the previous decades (Latimer
1977,
Sanborn 1982, Brown 1978, Goldblith 1967). The exact nature of the
sterilization effect and whether it is due solely to thermal effects
or
to the 'microwave effect' has been a matter of controversy for decades.
The dielectric effect on polar molecules has been known since 1912
(DeBye 1929). Polar molecules are those which possess an uneven charge
distribution and respond to an electromagnetic field by rotating.
The
angular momentum developed by these molecules results in friction
with
neighboring molecules and converts thereby to linear momentum, the
definition of heat in liquids and gases. Because the molecules are
forced to rotate first, there is a slight delay between the absorption
of microwave energy and the development of linear momentum, or heat.
There are some minor secondary effects of microwaves, including ionic
conduction, which are negligible in external heating. Microwave heating
is, therefore, not identical to external heating, at least at the
molecular level, and the existence of a microwave effect is not
precluded simply because the macroscopic heating effects of microwaves
are indistinguishable from those of external heating.
During the 1930s the effects of low frequency electromagnetic waves
on
biological materials were studied in depth by physicists, engineers
and
biologists. Studies of the effects of microwaves on bacteria, viruses
and DNA were performed in the 1960s and included research on heating,
biocidal effects, dielectric dispersion, mutagenic effects and induced
sonic resonance. Some of the early biophysicists investigating microwave
absorption claimed evidence of a 'microwave effect' which was distinct
in its biocidal effects from the effects of external heating (Barnes
1977, Cope 1976, Furia 1986). Most biologists in turn claimed there
was
no evidence of a microwave effect and that the biocidal effects of
microwaves were either due entirely to heating or were indistinguishable
from external heating (Goldblith 1967, Lechowich 1969, Vela 1978,
Jeng
1987, Fujikawa 1991, Welt 1994). These experiments were repeated with
increased sophistication right up to the present with the majority
consensus being that the microwave effect did not exist.
These experiments typically fell into two categories, 'controlled
temperature' experiments and 'dry' experiments. In the controlled
temperature experiments the researchers controlled the temperature
of
the irradiated specimen through various timing, pulsing or cooling
techniques (Welt 1994, Lechowich 1968).
For example, Welt (1994) investigated the effects of microwave
irradiation on Clostridium spores and found no additional lethality
caused by microwaves that could not be accounted for by conventional
heating. However, spores may not be representative of microwave
irradiation effects on active growing bacterial cells. The results
of
this and other experiments showed that controlling the temperature
prevented biocidal effects, and this was taken as conclusive evidence
that the microwave effect did not exist. However, the assumption that
the microwave effect is independent of, and separable from, temperature
was always implicit in these studies, but was never acknowledged.
The second type of experiment, the dry experiment, also contains
unacknowledged assumptions. Studies have shown that in the absence
of
water or moisture, biocidal effects of microwaves are severely
diminished, or require considerably longer exposures (Jeng 1987, Vela
1979). This was typically taken as evidence that nonthermal microwave
effects did not exist, however, since water is the primary medium
by
which microwaves are converted to heat, the absence of biocidal effects
in the absence of water would only indicate that water is necessary
for
sterilization whether or not heating is the cause. Furthermore, the
possibility that the specific frequency used, 2450 MHz, only affects
water and not bacteria or spores was overlooked. DNA has a dielectric
dispersion, where microwaves are readily absorbed, at much lower
frequencies than water (Takashima 1984). The experiments may simply
be
indicating that the wrong frequency is being used for targeting 'dry'
bacteria and spores.
Most of the studies mentioned above concluded that the microwave effect,
if it existed, was indistinguishable from the effects of external
heating. However, it was recently demonstrated (Kakita 1995) that
the
microwave effect is distinguishable from external heating by the fact
that it is capable of extensively fragmenting viral DNA, something
that
heating to the same temperature did not accomplish. This experiment
consisted of irradiating a bacteriophage PL-1 culture at 2450 MHz
and
comparing this with a separate culture heated to the same temperature.
The DNA was mostly destroyed, a result that does not occur from heating
alone. These photos are borrowed from Kakita et al (1995), permission
pending. In the Kakita experiment the survival percentage was
approximately the same whether the samples were heated or irradiated
with microwaves, but evaluation by electrophoresis and electron
microscopy showed that the DNA of the microwaved samples had mostly
disappeared. In spite of the evolving complexity of all the previous
experiments, electrophoresis had not been used to compare irradiated
and
externally heated samples prior to this.
Electron microscopy had been used to study the bacteriocidal effects
of
microwaves (Rosaspina 1993, 1994) and these results also showed that
microwaves had effects that were distinguishable from those of external
heating.
The energy level of a microwave photon is only 10-5 eV, whereas the
energy required to break a covalent bond is 10 eV, or a million times
greater. Based on this fact, it has been stated in the literature
that
"microwaves are incapable of breaking the covalent bonds of DNA"
(Fujikawa 1992, Jeng 1987), but this has apparently occurred in the
Kakita experiment, even though this may be only an indirect effect
of
the microwaves.
There is, in fact, plenty of evidence to indicate that there are
alternate mechanisms for causing DNA covalent bond breakage without
invoking the energy levels of ionizing radiation (Watanabe 1985, 1989,
Ishibashi 1982, Kakita 1995, Kashige 1995, Kashige 1990, 1994). Still,
no theory currently exists to explain the phenomenon of DNA
fragmentation by microwaves although research is ongoing which may
elucidate the mechanism (Watanabe 1996).
The results of microwave irradiation affected two
bacteria, S. aureus and E. coli. The death curves exhibited classic
exponential
decay with ab appararent shoulder, as well as a possible second stage.
These
curves are based on data from Kakita etal (1999). The microwave
frequency used in the Kakita study was the standard 2450 MHz used
in
conventional microwave ovens. This is the same frequency that was
used
in essentially all prior studies, except for the earliest studies
(which
looked at lower frequencies), and sonic resonant studies, which looked
at much higher frequencies. The early studies showed that DNA tended
to
absorb microwave radiation "in the kilocycle range"
(Takashima 1963, 1966, Grant 1978, Grandolfo 1983), but no biocidal
effects in
the range of 1 MHz to 60 MHz were observed.
One notable exception, however, was an early experiment which found
that
frequencies between 11 and 350 MHz had lethal effects on bacteria,
with
a peak at 60 MHz (Fleming 1944). As far as could be determined, the
contradiction between the results of Fleming and those of Takashima
has
never been resolved or re-addressed. In any event, there is no evidence
in these studies to indicate any undue attention was paid to control
the
actual absorbed dose or the precise geometry of the irradiation cell,
and therefore the differences in the results of these investigators
may
reflect differences in their cell geometries, among other things.
In summary, it would seem there is reason to believe that the microwave
effect does indeed exist, even if it cannot yet be adequately explained.
What we know at present is somewhat limited, but there may be enough
information already available to form a viable hypothesis.
The possibility that electromagnetic radiation in the non-ionizing
frequency
range can cause genetic damage may have profound implications on the
current controversy involving EM antennae, power lines, and cell phones.
A Theory of Microwave Induced DNA
Covalent Bond Breakage A
review of the data from the various referenced
experiments shows a common pattern -- for the first few minutes of
irradiation
there is no pronounced effect, and then a cascade of microbial
destruction occurs. The data pattern greatly resembles the dynamics
of a
capacitor; first there is an accumulation of energy, and then a
catastrophic release. It may simply indicate a threshhold temperature
has been reached, or it may indicate a
two-stage process is at work. The second stage of this process may
very
well be
the accumulation of oxygen radicals, which would certainly seem to
be
primary
suspects as they have a considerable propensity for dissociating the
covalent bonds of DNA. Oxygen radicals can be generated by the
disruption of a hydrogen bond on a water molecule. Water molecules
exist
alongside DNA molecules as
"bound" water, two or three layers thick. These water molecules
share
a hydrogen bond with component atoms of the DNA backbone, including
carbon,
nitrogen and other oxygen atoms. At any given point in time one of
the
hydrogen
atoms may be primarilly bonded to either an oxygen atom on the water
molecule,
or to an oxygen (or other) atom on the DNA backbone.
The fluctuating character of these shared and exchanged bonds is
enhanced by temperature and by the dynamics induced by microwaves.
Although the amount of oxygen radicals which may be produced by this
process cannot presently be determined, the production of some number
of
oxygen radicals is inevitable in these circumstances. It must be noted
here though, that most of the oxygen radicals produced in this manner
would exist only briefly, as they would almost immediately bond to
the
nearest available site. If this site is an oxygen atom on the DNA
backbone, we get a covalent bond break, albeit probably only a brief
one. Although DNA tends to repair itself naturally, the simultaneous
breakage of a sufficient number of covalent bonds would lead to a
catastrophic failure of the entire DNA molecule. Due to the exceedingly
large number of bonds involved, the matter boils down to a reproducible
function of pure probabilities. In other words, after a set and
reproducible amount of time determined by probability functions, you
would expect to see DNA disintegration. And so, what we have is a
two-stage process of DNA covalent bond breakage resulting from oxygen
radicals generated by microwave irradiation. This is one theory, and
it
awaits experimental verification.
An alternate theory comes from investigators at Fukuoka University
in
Japan. In a series of studies not specifically involving microwaves,
these investigators established that certain ions can stimulate DNA
breakage and OH radical production (Kashige eta al 1990, Kashige et
al
1994). They also determined that amino sugars and derivatives could
induce DNA strand breakage (Kashige et al 1991). It is possible that
microwaves may be causing generation of cupric ions and hydroxyl
radicals, and that auto-oxidation of aminosugars in solution are
involved in DNA strand breakage (Watanabe et al 1990, Watanabe et
al
1986). The link between microwaves and these secondary products remains
to be established.
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http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/wjk/mwaves.html
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