A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Defending the Indefensible

Deconstructing a New York Times Headline

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

How does a New York Times reporter justify a grossly misleading headline on a story of major importance?

Usually we could only speculate, but in one recent case, thanks to a health advocate’s persistence, we have a peek at the rationalizations and distortions in play.

The headline sits at the top of a story by William Broad, a staff writer, reporting the release of the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) final report on its $30 million, ten-year animal study of the cancer risks associated with cell phone radiation.

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How NTP Controlled Coverage
of Cell Phone Cancer Story

Did New York Times Have an Inside Track?

Friday, November 9, 2018

Much of the press coverage of the final NTP cell phone/cancer report was lousy. This time, the NTP seems to have wanted it that way.

Reporters were given very little notice to join the NTP teleconference on the release of the report. Nor was there much time to prepare a story for publication.

I received an email at 10:45 am on October 31 for a teleconference at 2 pm that same day. Many reporters missed the advisory and the call. Editors had little time to assign the story.

Attendance on the teleconference was spotty.

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Cell Phone Radiation Leads to Cancer, Says U.S. NTP in Final Report

Rats Developed Rare Heart Tumor
Cancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible

Thursday, November 1, 2018

“We believe that the link between radiofrequency (RF) radiation and tumors in male rats is real,” says John Bucher, the former associate director of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP).

The announcement accompanies this morning’s release of the NTP final reports of studies on cancer in rats and mice exposed to cell phone radiation. Bucher’s project, the largest in NTP history, cost $30 million and took more than ten years to complete.

The NTP found what it calls “clear evidence” that two different types of cell phone signals, GSM and CDMA, increased the incidence of malignant tumors in the hearts of male rats over the course of the two-year study.

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Location, Location, Location
Aggressive Brain Tumors Tell a Story

GBM Rise Only in Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Friday, October 26, 2018

Last updated October 29, 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.

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Japan and Korea Planning Their Own Cell Phone Animal Studies

Verifying NTP Cancer Findings

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Japanese and Korean officials are working on a partial replication of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) animal study on cancer risks from cell phone radiation. The project is expected to be approved and get underway late next year.

Though collaborating on a common experimental design, each country will carry out its own exposures with animals from the same breeder. If the designs are similar enough, the two sets of data will be combined in a joint analysis.

“We have been discussing this issue in Japan,” said Masao Taki of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University, who was a member of ICNIRP from 1996 to 2008.

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Short Takes

NTP Scientists Endorse Precaution

January 17, 2020

NTP scientists have decided to follow the science.

In a recent revision to the information it offers the public on cell phone radiation, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) revealed that its scientists are now taking precautions by spending less time on cell phones and, when on a call, increasing the distance between their heads and the...

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French Govt Seeks To Limit Exposures from Cell Phones

October 28, 2019

French health officials want cell phone users to be better informed of potential risks and are urging them to take precautionary steps to limit their radiation exposures.

The move comes after an government health and safety agency (ANSES) issued an October 21 advisory warning the public not to carry phones in shirt or trouser pockets.

The French government wants the European Commission to require measurements indicating how much...

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EMF Studies: Industry Funding
Sways Findings

September 4, 2019

Industry-funded studies have promoted false doubts about EMF cancer risks and led to the failure of the public health community to reduce exposures, argues David Carpenter in a paper published last week in Environmental Research.

Carpenter, the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany in upstate New York, shows that, over the last 20 years, findings on the link...

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FCC Proposes No Change to Its RF Standards

August 8, 2019

Last updated August 9, 2019

After six years of study, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided not to revise its current safety limits for RF radiation. The rules, which were first adopted in 1996 and are the only ones governing cell phone exposures in the U.S., will continue to be based only on thermal effects.

“After a thorough review of the record and consultation with [the...

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Danish Spike in GBM Is Back

June 11, 2019

Last updated June 21, 2019

Hans Skovgaard Poulsen sounded the alarm seven years ago. There’s a spike in glioblastoma —GBM— in Denmark, he warned. Poulsen, the head of neuro-oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital, called it “frightening.”

On November 2, 2012, the Danish Cancer Society dutifully sent out a press advisory under the title “...

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Advisors for Japan, Korea NTP Repeat

May 6, 2019

The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is circulating a report on the partial replication of the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s RF–animal study, planned by Korean and Japanese officials. It includes the proposed candidates for the project’s International Steering Committee.

They are:
• Alexander Lerchl, Jacobs University, Germany
•...

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“Evaluation of the NTP and Ramazzini Studies,” BERENIS Newsletter, November 2018. This expert group on EMF/NIR, which advises the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, states that these two animal cancer studies are “the most comprehensive” to date. Despite their methodological differences, they both showed “relatively consistent results in schwannomas and gliomas, as well as a dose-dependent trend to an increase in the carcinogenicity of these tumors.” Based on these findings, BERENIS favors a precautionary approach for RF/EMF exposures.
“Cell Phone Use and Risk of Thyroid Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Connecticut,” Annals of Epidemiology, posted online October 29, 2018. “A suggestive increased risk associated with long-term and frequent uses were observed for thyroid microcarcinomas, but not larger tumors (>10mm).”
“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.
“Critique of the ICNIRP Note of September 4, 2018, Regarding Recent Animal Carcinogenesis Studies,” Ron Melnick, September 12, 2018. Ron Melnick, formerly with NTP, spells out 15 “extensive and misleading” statements made by ICNIRP on the NTP and Ramazzini cell phone–animal studies. Also today, Ramazzini’s Fiorella Belpoggi posted her comments. See also Melnick’s commentary on the NTP study posted (Sept 20) by Environmental Research.
“Scientists and Doctors Zap Theory that Microwave Weapon Injured Cuba Diplomats,” Washington Post, September 6, 2018.” Challenges NYTimes report (below). “No microwave weapon that affects the brain is known to exist.”
“Microwave Weapons Are Prime Suspect in Ills of U.S. Embassy Workers,” New York Times, September 1, 2018. “Strikes with microwaves, some experts now argue, more plausibly explain reports of painful sounds, ills and traumas than do other possible culprits — sonic attacks, viral infections and contagious anxiety.” (Front page, print edition, September 2.)
“Clear Evidence of Cell Phone RF Radiation Cancer Risk,” IEEE Microwave Magazine, Sept/Oct 2018. Jim Lin,12-yr former member of ICNIRP (& editor-in-chief of Bioelectomagnetics), writes: “Perhaps the time has come to judiciously reassess, revise & update [the ICNIRP] guidelines” so that they protect against long-term RF exposures. As of now they only address acute effects.
“Occupational Exposure to High-Frequency EMFs and Brain Tumor Risk in the INTEROCC Study: An Individualized Assessment Approach,” Environment International, online July 31, 2018. “In conclusion, despite the improved quantitative exposure assessment used in this study, the results do not support a positive association between occupational exposure to high-frequency EMF and either glioma or meningioma risk. However, given our limited statistical power, due to the small number of exposed participants, and despite our results’ lack of significance our findings foster the need for further research focusing on RF magnetic fields and tumor promotion, as well as possible interactions with other frequencies and with chemicals.” (see press release.)
“A Prospective Cohort Study of Adolescents’ Memory Performance and Individual Brain Dose of Microwave Radiation from Wireless Communication,” Environmental Health Perspectives, online July 23, 2018. “We found preliminary evidence suggesting that RF-EMF may affect brain functions such as figural memory in regions that are most exposed during mobile phone use.”
“Thermal and Non-Thermal Health Effects of Low Intensity Non-Ionizing Radiation: An International Perspective,” Environmental Pollution, posted July 6, 2018. An “urgent” call for action from D. Belpomme, L. Hardell, I. Belyaev, E. Burgio & D. Carpenter.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Defending the Indefensible

Deconstructing a New York Times Headline

How NTP Controlled Coverage
of Cell Phone Cancer Story

Did New York Times Have an Inside Track?

Cell Phone Radiation Leads to Cancer, Says U.S. NTP in Final Report

Rats Developed Rare Heart Tumor
Cancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible

Location, Location, Location
Aggressive Brain Tumors Tell a Story

GBM Rise Only in Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Japan and Korea Planning Their Own Cell Phone Animal Studies

Verifying NTP Cancer Findings

Pages

Short Takes

NTP Scientists Endorse Precaution

French Govt Seeks To Limit Exposures from Cell Phones

EMF Studies: Industry Funding
Sways Findings

FCC Proposes No Change to Its RF Standards

Danish Spike in GBM Is Back

Advisors for Japan, Korea NTP Repeat

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A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Deconstructing a New York Times Headline

Did New York Times Have an Inside Track?

Rats Developed Rare Heart TumorCancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible

GBM Rise Only in Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Verifying NTP Cancer Findings

Pages

Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

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Microwave News Reading

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Rats Developed Rare Heart Tumor
Cancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible