A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

Frank de Vocht: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

December 11, 2023

In November, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) elected a new chair, vice chair and seven new Commissioners to join the remaining five. The new lineup takes over in mid-July 2024.

Yet, despite all the changes, ICNIRP’s outlook and policies are expected to remain much the same. While two medical doctors will be joining the Commission —there are none now— the membership will continue to be dominated by physicists and electrical engineers. ICNIRP’s entrenched thermal dogma will most likely continue to hold sway with cancer risks, and other non-thermal effects downplayed, when not dismissed outright.

October 26, 2018

A U.K. epidemiologist has confirmed that glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive type of brain tumor, is on the rise in England. In a new paper, Frank de Vocht of the University of Bristol reports that he sees a significant and consistent increase in GBM in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain over the last 20-30 years.

Alasdair Philips, an independent researcher based in Scotland, and three colleagues first documented the increase last March. It was not due to improved diagnosis, they said, but they could not pinpoint which “environmental or lifestyle factor” was responsible. There was one obvious possibility: cell phones.

October 18, 2018

“Analyses of Temporal and Spatial Patterns of GBM and other Brain Cancers Subtypes in Relation to Mobile Phones Using Synthetic Counterfactuals,” Environmental Research, posted October 17, 2018.

Frank de Vocht confirms that GBM is rising in the U.K. but argues that it’s “unlikely” that RF from cell phones is responsible.

January 31, 2017

The incidence of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most virulent and deadly type of brain cancer, is going up in the U.K., while the incidence there of other types of malignant brain tumors are declining, according to some newly published raw data.

Take a look at the two plots below and the trends are immediately apparent.

The incidence rates are not corrected for age, or any...

April 9, 2014

“Occupational Exposure of Healthcare and Research Staff to Static Magnetic Stray Fields from 1.5–7 Tesla MRI Scanners Is Associated with Reporting of Transient Symptoms,” Occupational & Environmental Medicine, posted online April 8, 2014.

“[D]uring 6% of the MRI shifts in this study workers experienced vertigo, which constitutes a potential safety hazard for both worker and patient. Additionally, several workers reported that symptoms affected their ability to work.” A Dutch-U.K. collaboration. Open Access.

February 4, 2014

“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.”

October 6, 2013

The research group at the University of Oxford that reported a link between long-term use of a mobile phone and an elevated risk of acoustic neuroma (AN) in May now says that it is no longer there. In a short letter to the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE), the Oxford team advises that when the analysis was repeated with data from 2009-2011, "there is no longer a significant...

September 26, 2013

“Environmental Risk Factors for Cancers of the Brain and Nervous System: The Use of Ecological Data to Generate Hypotheses,” Occupational & Environmental Medicine, May 2013, by Frank de Vocht and coworkers at U.K.'s University of Manchester.

“We show a clear association between national penetration of cellular telecommunications subscriptions and higher incidence of brain and nervous system cancers, with a latency between exposure and clinical onset of at least 11–12 years, but probably more than 20 years.”

March 3, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, the University of Manchester in England issued a press release on a new paper on brain cancer trends in the U.K., under the headline, "Mobile Phone Use Not Related to Increased Brain Cancer Risk." Clear and catchy — but wrong. Frank de Vocht and two collaborators actually saw a...

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