A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News Center: Main Articles Archive

February 15, 2007

The Health Council of the Netherlands issued its fourth Annual Update [2006] on EMFs today, concluding that there is no evidence of RF radiation health risks from the country's UMTS (3G) mobile phone network or from DECT base stations. The council also advises that last year's Swiss study — which failed to confirm an earlier Dutch study showing a decrease in "well-being" due to EMF exposure— had an "improved design" and should therefore be given "more weight." The council's 2006 report is in Dutch and in English; the English text begins on p.53. See also its press release.   

February 12, 2007

The Swiss National Science Foundation today officially launched its EMF research program, known as (NRP 57). The 5 million franc (U.S.$4 million) program is sponsoring 11 new laboratory, epidemiological, dosimetric and risk management studies. These include:
• The effects of pulsed mobile phone signals on the human brain and on cognitive function by Peter Achermann of the University of Zurich;
• The effects of 3G phone radiation on blood flow in the brain by Martin Wolf of the University Hospital, also in Zurich;
• An epidemiological survey on the health status of 2,000 people exposed to high-frequency radiation by Martin Röösli of the University of Berne;
• In vivo and in vitro experiments on stress responses by Meike Mevissen, also of the University of Berne;
• Genotoxic studies on power-frequency EMFs by Primo Schär of the University of Basel;
• Three projects on dosimetry at the Foundation for Research on Information Technologies (IT'IS) in Zurich, which is run by Niels Kuster.
For the complete details, see the press release available in German and French; the program brochure, in German and French, as well as the program implementation plan in English, German and French.     

 

February 5, 2007

The German Federal Office of Radiation Protection (BfS) has joined its Swedish counterpart in advising caution with respect to the use of mobile phones, following the release of the new Interphone brain tumor paper 

February 1, 2007

The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI) has reiterated its advice that people should adopt a precautionary approach to the use of mobile phones. In a statement issued yesterday, the SSI warned that the latest results from the Interphone study  (see our January 22 and January 26 posts) "strengthen" the possibility that cell phones can lead to tumor development —both gliomas and acoustic neuromas.

Karolinska's Maria Feychting on the Tumor Risk

January 26, 2007

The latest Interphone findings pointing to a link between brain tumors and long-term use of a mobile phone (see January 22) should not be dismissed, according to members of the European research team that published the new results. "This is something you have to take seriously," Maria Feychting of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm told the Expressen, a Swedish national tabloid. Feychting advises those who are concerned to use a hands-free set to reduce radiation exposures.

January 22, 2007

An international team of researchers has found new evidence that long-term use of a mobile phone may lead to the development of a brain tumor on the side of the head the phone is used. In a study which will appear in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Cancer, epidemiologists from five European countries report a nearly 40% increase in gliomas, a type of brain tumor, among those who had used a cell phone for ten or more years. The increase is statistically significant. In addition, there was a trend showing that the brain tumor risk increased with years of use. The new paper is posted on the journal's Web site.

January 19, 2007

Three senior members of the public health community —each with extensive experience with EMF health research— have called for precautionary policies to limit leukemia risks to children.At a public hearing convened by the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) on January 9, David Carpenter, Raymond Neutra and Daniel Wartenberg testified in support of prudent avoidance, as advocated by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH).

Read our special report on the Connecticut hearing, with extended excerpts from Carpenter, Neutra and Wartenberg's prepared testimony. (See also our previous coverage of Connecticut's efforts to establish a state EMF policy.)

January 18, 2007

The latest issue (Vol.25, No.4, 2006) of Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine features a selection of papers presented at the Conference on the Precautionary Approach to EMF, held in Benevento, Italy, last February. Among the authors are Martin Blank, Alvaro de Salles and Mikhail Zhadin and Livio Giuliani. Also included are the full texts of the 2002 Catania and 2006 Benevento Resolutions.

January 13, 2007

Today's New York Times has an obituary for Martin Kruskalz, a mathematician who taught at Princeton and Rutgers. He died on December 26. One of the principal reasons Kruskal merited a signed obit, with photo, is his work on solitons. The Times credits him and Norman Zabusky, his collaborator, with coining the term. (Solitons are solitary waves that can travel long distances without being dissipated; see, for example, this very short video.) The obit prompted a Proustian moment, taking us back to the days when Ross Adey (1922-2004) would speculate on possible mechanisms for the low-level EMF effects that he was seeing in his lab....

January 12, 2007

Are they victims of mind-control dirty tricks or are they simply nuts? Sharon Weinberger presents the stories of a number of TIs —targeted individuals who believe they are being assaulted by electromagnetic weapons— in Sunday's (January 14) Washington Post magazine. Her cover story, "Mind Games," centers on Harlan Girard, who for many years has run the International Committee on Offensive Microwave Weapons out of his home in Philadelphia.

Pages