A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Paul Brodeur
The Original Microwave Pioneer

Setting the Record Straight
A Personal Tribute

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Last updated October 9, 2023

In the summer of 2012, Paul Brodeur sent me an email that began, “Don’t forget that when I croak, you’re supposed to give some credit to me as the original microwave pioneer.” I came across it in my files after learning that Brodeur had died on August 2^nd at the age of 92. It was among his many letters, notes and clippings I had stashed away over the last 50 years.

The story begins on a rainy fall afternoon in 1977 at the New York office of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a public-interest environmental law firm, where I was working at the time. Brodeur, then a star investigative reporter at The New Yorker, came by with copies of his new book, The Zapping of America, an exposé on the dangers of microwave radiation and how they were being covered up. The previous December, the magazine had run two long articles by Brodeur which caused a national sensation and drew attention to the otherwise obscure world of electromagnetic health.

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Paul Brodeur, Who Warned of Asbestos and EM Radiation Risks, Dies at 92

Author of “The Zapping of America” and “Currents of Death” Among Many Other Books

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Last updated August 20, 2023

Paul Brodeur, a seminal voice in publicizing asbestos and electromagnetic radiation health risks, died August 2 on Cape Cod, MA, at the age of 92. For close to 40 years, Brodeur was a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine, where many of his exposés first appeared before he expanded them into books.

In December 1976, the New Yorker ran Brodeur’s two-part article on microwave radiation. It would become a sensation in the otherwise insular world of electromagnetic health that up to then had been dominated by military and industrial interests. The following year, Brodeur published The Zapping of America.

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How Money and Power
Dominate RF Research

The Lai-Singh DNA Breaks 30 Years On
A Conversation with Henry Lai

Monday, June 12, 2023

Last updated November 17, 2023

Unremarkable science can sometimes tell a remarkable story. Two papers that were published in the last few weeks —and passed mostly unnoticed— have important, though very different, backstories.

One offers a surprising glimpse of change in the usually static field of RF research, while the other shows how much has stayed the same over the last many years.

Yet, in the end, they offer the same well-worn message, always worth repeating: Those who sign the checks, run the show.

The two papers come 30 years after Henry Lai and N.P. Singh began an experiment at the University of Washington in Seattle that would set off alarm bells across the still-young cell phone industry —and the U.S. military. Lai and Singh would show that a single, two-hour exposure to low-level microwave radiation (today, we’d say RF) could lead to breaks in the helical strands of DNA in the brains of live rats.

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All Plaintiff Experts Barred in
Cell Phone Brain Tumor Lawsuits

Twenty-Two Years and Counting

Thursday, May 4, 2023

Last updated August 31, 2023

In a big win for the telecoms, and Motorola in particular, a judge has disallowed testimony from the entire slate of expert witnesses who were scheduled to support claims that cell phones can lead to brain tumors.

Judge Alfred Irving Jr. of the Washington DC Superior Court issued the ruling on April 25 in a set of 13 cases collectively known as Murray v Motorola.

The Murray litigation has been going on for a long, long time —think Jarndyce. The original claim was filed more than 20 years ago.

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Will WHO Kick
Its ICNIRP Habit?

Non-Thermal Effects Hang in the Balance
Repacholi’s Legacy of Industry Cronyism

Monday, November 4, 2019

Last updated June 5, 2023

UPDATE: With no public notice or any formal announcement, the World Health Organization (WHO) held the first meeting of its RF Working Group in Geneva March 14-16, 2023.

The group is preparing a review of health effects, as part of a process that has been ongoing for close to a decade.

Our latest chapter, “RF Review Shrouded in Secrecy,” is posted here.

___________

After eight years of work, the WHO is reopening its review of the health effects of RF radiation for a summary report intended to serve as a benchmark for its more than 150 member countries. The report will be used as a guide to respond to widespread concerns over the new world of 5G.

The WHO issued a public call in October for detailed literature reviews on ten types of RF–health impacts from cancer to fertility to electrohypersensitivity. Some see the move as a sign that the health agency is interested in opinions beyond those of its long-time partner, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). They hope that the WHO is finally ready to recognize evidence of low-level effects, in particular the link between cell phones and cancer. Others are far from convinced.

The skeptics see the new reviews as little more than a ruse.

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Short Takes

Schwannoma Puzzle

September 14, 2023

Last updated September 16, 2023

Three medical doctors have published a case report of a 40-year-old Italian man who developed a tumor in his thigh, near where he “habitually” kept his smartphone in a trouser pocket.

The case was published at the end of August in Radiology Case Reports, a peer-reviewed, open access journal.

The tumor, a painless mass, gradually expanded in the man’s left thigh over a period of six months, they wrote.

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Italy’s 6 V/m RF Limit Appears Safe

August 9, 2023

Italy’s 6 V/m RF exposure standard, one of the strictest in the world and until recently seen as falling victim to the build-out of 5G towers, will not be relaxed —at least not now.

The Italian government has signalled that the limit, adopted more than 20 years ago, will not be brought into line with ICNIRP’s 61 V/m guideline, as urged by the telecom industry.

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Korean NTP Lite: Progress Report

June 16, 2023

Last updated June 17, 2023

A Korean RF genotoxicology study —part of a joint project with Japan— has been delayed due to the unexpected death of four of the RF–exposed rats early in the accompanying two-year cancer experiment, according to Young Hwan Ahn of Ajou University medical school.

Ahn presented a progress report on the Korean arm of the project in Geneva last week at a meeting of the WHO EMF Project’s International Advisory Committee. Microwave News has obtained a copy of Ahn’s PowerPoint presentation.

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ICNIRP Still Runs RF at WHO

June 5, 2023

Last updated June 8, 2023

ICNIRP continues to dominate EMF policies at the WHO, according to documents made available to Microwave News.

The documents were recently distributed by Emilie van Deventer as she prepared to host a briefing this week for its International Advisory Committee (IAC) in Geneva.

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Pulsed RF: Plausible Cause of Havana Syndrome

March 30, 2023

A newly declassified, though heavily redacted, report from the intelligence community has put renewed emphasis on the possibility that the condition known as “Havana Syndrome” could be caused by pulsed RF energy.

“Electromagnetic energy, particularly pulsed signals in the radiofrequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics [of Havana Syndrome, also called ‘anomalous health incidents’] although information gaps exist,” the intelligence panel concluded.

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David Carpenter Reinstated

February 21, 2023

Last updated February 22, 2023

The University at Albany in New York State has closed its investigation of Professor David Carpenter, the director of its Institute for Health and the Environment, without taking any disciplinary action.

After being barred from going to his office most of last year, Carpenter may now once again “teach and conduct research on campus,” according to a statement released by the University on Tuesday evening.

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Hot new papers & articles

“Biological Effects of EMFs on Insects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Reviews on Environmental Health, November 23, 2023. “Biological effects of non-thermal EMF on insects are clearly proven in the laboratory, but only partly in the field, thus the wider ecological implications are still unknown. There is a need for more field studies, but extrapolating from the laboratory ... already warrants increasing the threat level of environmental EMF impact on insects.” A major review with162 references. Open access.
“Effect of WiFi Signal Exposure in Utero and Early Life on Neurodevelopment and Behaviors of Rats,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, August 10, 2023. “Prenatal WiFi exposure increased the body weight, improved the spatial memory, and learning function and induced behavioral hyperactivity of male rats.” From China.
“Impact of Weak RF and Static Magnetic Fields on Key Signaling Molecules, Intracellular pH, Membrane Potential and Cell Growth in HT‐1080 Fibrosarcoma Cells,” Scientific Reports, August 30, 2023. Weak RF and static magnetic fields “may have important clinical implications on aging, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s.” Open access.
“Mammography Using Low‐Frequency EMFs with Deep Learning,” Scientific Reports, August 15, 2023. New system, operating at 200 MHz, for detecting anomalies inside the human female breast. It could not only detect benign and malignant tumors, but also their size and location. “Remarkably, deep learning models were found to achieve very high classification accuracy.”
“Upper Bound for Broadband RF Disruption of Magnetic Compass Orientation in Night-Migratory Songbirds,” PNAS, July 3, 2023. From the Oldenburg and Oxford research groups. “These results provide compelling evidence that the magnetic compass of migratory birds operates by a [flavin-containing] radical pair mechanism.” Open access.
EC’s Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER), “Opinion on the Need of a Revision of the Annexes in the Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC and Directive 2013/35/EU, in View of the Latest Scientific Evidence Available with regard to RF (100kHz - 300GHz),” released June 14, 2023. SCHEER reaffirms use of ICNIRP limits. Effectively rejects NTP, Ramazzini and Lerchl animal studies. Sees no need to protect public & workers from possible long-term effects of RF.
“Do EMFs Used in Telecommunications Affect Wild Plant Species? A Control Impact Study Conducted in the Field,” Ecological Indicators, June 2023. Some specific species of wild plants exposed to low-level RF (~867 MHz at 1-2 μW/cm²) showed “permanent and irreversible” effects. Open access.
“EMF Exposure on Fetal and Childhood Abnormalities: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Open Medicine, May 12, 2023. “Fetal and childhood abnormalities were more common in parents who have been exposed to EMFs compared to those who have not.”
“EMFs Disrupt the Pollination Service by Honeybees,” Science Advances, May 12, 2023. Strong conclusion: “Our study provides conclusive evidence of detrimental impacts of [power-frequency] EMF on honeybee’s pollination behavior, leading to negative effects on plant community.” From Chile; open access.
“RF Health Safety Limits and Recommendations,” IEEE Microwave Magazine, June 2023. Jim Lin offers his most stinging criticism to date of the FCC, IEEE and ICNIRP exposure limits for RF and 5G radiation.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Setting the Record StraightA Personal Tribute

Author of “The Zapping of America” and “Currents of Death” Among Many Other Books

The Lai-Singh DNA Breaks 30 Years OnA Conversation with Henry Lai

Twenty-Two Years and Counting

Non-Thermal Effects Hang in the BalanceRepacholi’s Legacy of Industry Cronyism

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Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

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Microwave News Reading

Microwave News is...

Setting the Record Straight
A Personal Tribute

The Lai-Singh DNA Breaks 30 Years On
A Conversation with Henry Lai

Non-Thermal Effects Hang in the Balance
Repacholi’s Legacy of Industry Cronyism