A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

Jeffrey Saffer: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

August 5, 2025

This is a story about what it’s like doing research on electromagnetic fields and public health. About what happens when you serve two masters: science and medicine, on one hand, and business and politics, on the other. It shows what has so often happened to those who follow the data. Those who link the words “EMFs” and “cancer” in the same sentence pay the price. Careers are cut short.

I’ve told many similar stories over the years, but this one is about an old friend who deserved better. It’s a story about Reba Goodman.

July 1, 1995

The Science and Politics of the EMF Puzzle; The Missing Pieces in the Frontline Story

The irony is astonishing. On the very day that a committee of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) completed its 800-page draft report asking regulatory agencies to pay “serious attention” to EMFs, public television station WGBH aired a one-hour show across the country comparing EMFs to cold fusion. While the NCRP committee called for “a national commitment to further research,” the June 13 Frontline, “Currents of Fear,” asked whether it was time to close down the research effort.