ELF EMFs: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

“Occupational Exposure and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in a Prospective Cohort,” Occupational Environmental Medicine, posted online March 29, 2017.

“Only for ELF-MF in men we observed a significant increased risk of ALS mortality with increasing exposure levels.” …  “These results strengthen the evidence suggesting a positive association between ELF-MF exposure and ALS.” Open access.

Facts don’t seem to mean much anymore. We live in a “post-truth” time. So much so that post-truth was recently named the international word of the year. As 2017 opened for business, a stark example of the new reality came to our attention courtesy of Paolo Boffetta, an Italian epidemiologist now at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

In an interview with Fox News, Boffetta said that the link between power lines and childhood leukemia had been debunked. In response to a question as to whether it was safe for a pregnant woman to live next to a “huge power line,” Boffetta advised that there was no reason for concern.

According to Boffetta, the 1979 classic study by Nancy Wertheimer and Ed Leeper pointing to higher rates of leukemia among children living near high-current power lines had been contradicted by “newer and better” studies, carried out with improved methodology. Boffetta sent a clear message that “very high exposures” to power line EMFs are safe for pregnant women and children.

Boffetta has lost his truth compass.

Once again, power-frequency magnetic fields have been found to act as a cancer promoter.

Eighteen months ago an international team led by Elisabeth Cardis in Spain showed cancer promotion in workers exposed to chemicals and extremely low frequency (ELF) EMFs. Now an Italian team has found essentially the same promotional effect in animals exposed to ionizing radiation and ELF EMFs.

The new study, which was carried out at the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, is part of the most ambitious EMF–animal project ever attempted.

“Relationship Between Exposure to ELF EMFs and Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis,” European Journal of Gynecological Oncology, Vol.35, pp.264-269, 2014.

“[Our analysis] indicated that, for the premenopausal group, the occurrence of breast cancer may be related to exposure to ELF-EMFs, but for the menopausal group it has no relationship. The specific mechanism still requires further study. … It is suggested that premenopausal female should minimize exposure to ELF-EMFs.” From China.

Power-frequency magnetic fields can promote brain tumors, according to the largest epidemiological study of its kind ever undertaken. The study promises to breathe new life into the idea that extremely low frequency (ELF) EMFs are more likely to be cancer promoters than causes of cancer. This hypothesis gained support a generation ago but has lost currency in recent years.

The new results, published online earlier this month by the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, come from INTEROCC, an international project with seven participating countries designed to investigate occupational health risks from chemicals and EMFs. The project is directed by Elisabeth Cardis at CREAL in Barcelona with $1.5 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (though none of the tumor cases are from the U.S.).

The INTEROCC team found that those who were exposed to elevated EMF exposures at work during the five years prior to diagnosis had significantly higher rates of glioma compared to those who were least exposed during that time on the job. The greater the exposure, the greater the tumor risk.

“Maternal Residential Proximity to Sources of ELF EMFs and Adverse Birth Outcomes in a U.K. Cohort,” Bioelectromagnetics, posted online January 31, 2014. From Frank de Vocht’s group in Manchester.

“This large population-based study indicates that close (≤50m) proximity to high-voltage cables, overhead power lines, substations or towers is associated with suboptimal growth, and provides some indication … of clinically significant outcomes.”

“Occupational ELF Magnetic Field Exposure and Selected Cancer Outcomes in a Prospective Dutch Cohort,” Cancer Causes and Control, posted online November 16, 2013.

“For lung, breast and brain cancer, we found no evidence of an association.…We did observe associations between ELF-EMF exposure and follicular lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia in men although AML did not show clear exposure-response relationship.” From the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences at Utrecht University.

Assessment of ELF Magnetic Field Exposure from GSM Mobile Phones,” Bioelectromagnetics, posted online November 6, 2013.

“[M]easurements suggest that mobile phones could make a substantial contribution to ELF exposure [at 217 Hz and associated harmonics] in the general population.” From the Mobi-Kids study team.

“Health Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields: Reconsidering the Melatonin Hypothesis in Light of Current Data on Magnetoreception,” Journal of Applied Toxicology, published online June 13, 2012.