A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Open Season on 5G Critics

First NY Times, Now Scientific American

Friday, December 6, 2019

Last updated February 19, 2020

Simply saying that more health research is needed on 5G —the latest generation of cell phone technology— can be hazardous to your reputation.

Last May, the New York Times tried to take down David Carpenter, a public health physician and the country’s most prominent 5G critic. Veteran science writer William Broad painted Carpenter as a willing tool of a disinformation campaign promoted by RT America, a Russian TV network. Two months later, Broad was back for another hit on Carpenter. Much of what Broad wrote was fiction.

Now Scientific American has ambushed Joel Moskowitz, one of the few other academics willing to state the obvious: No one knows whether 5G is safe.

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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 December 19, 2022

After eight years of work, the World Health Organization (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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NTP Turns to Mechanisms

DNA Breaks, Oxidative Stress and
Gene Expression Are on the Agenda

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Last updated October 22, 2019

The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) will soon embark on a new phase of its long-running RF project. Last year, the NTP concluded that RF radiation causes cancer; now it will begin a systematic search for mechanisms to explain how and why the tumors developed. Work is expected to begin by the end of the year.

The research plan is wide-ranging. It will include studies on gene expression, oxidative stress and DNA damage and repair, as well as on the possible role played by heat. Other priorities on the NTP agenda are studies on behavior and stress.

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A Fact-Free Hit on a 5G Critic

Fabricating History on the New York Times Science Desk

Monday, July 22, 2019

Last updated July 13, 2021

Last Tuesday, July 16, the New York Times devoted most of the front page of its science section to William Broad’s latest attack on those who challenge the dogma that wireless radiation is absolutely safe.

“The 5G Health Hazard That Isn’t” is the catchy headline of the Web version of his article. It is followed by “How one scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears of wireless technology.”

Broad focuses on two letters* written about 20 years ago by Bill Curry, a consulting physicist, who openly disapproved of putting Wi-Fi in classrooms.

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GBM Rising in Denmark,
Much as in England

True Increases or Artifacts?

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

GBM is going up in Denmark. The steady rise is very similar to what has been seen in England.

New government data, released in May by a member of the Danish Parliament, show a near doubling of this fatal brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme, since the year 2000. You can see the trend by following the orange line in the histogram …

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Short Takes

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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Abe Liboff Dies at 95

January 12, 2023

Last updated March 21, 2023

Abraham Liboff, a biophysicst and journal editor, died on January 9 at the age of 95.

Abe was a wonderful and generous man. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, I wrote an appreciation of his work. You can read it here.

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French Health Agency Seeks RF Research

November 16, 2022

ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, has issued a request for proposals for studies on RF radiation.

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RF Health Review, Paris in November

October 19, 2022

Last updated October 31, 2022

Two influential health agencies, both based in France, will host a one-day meeting on RF–health research, November 23 in Paris. The public is invited to attend in person or online. Registration is free.

The conference, organized by ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, and IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, will focus on potential effects of RF radiation on the brain and on cancer risks. The theme is “Research in a Fast-Moving Environment.”

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The MW Debate Continues
—in Norwegian

July 14, 2022

Last updated July 15, 2022

Close to 40 years after its first publication, The Microwave Debate, Nicholas Steneck’s history of research and regulation of microwave health effects, is back in print —this time in Norwegian.

The new translation comes with an epilogue by Thomas Butler, a professor at Ireland’s Cork University Business School, who has contributed seven chapters —about 30,000 words— to bring Steneck’s story up to the present.

The translation is the brainchild of Einar Flydal ...

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NIER Effects on Flora & Fauna:
A Major Review

September 27, 2021

Last updated November 25, 2022

A detailed examination —likely the most exhaustive ever attempted— of the environmental effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation has been published in Reviews on Environmental Health.

“Effects of Non-Ionizing Electromagnetic Fields on Flora and Fauna” is in three parts, the last of which was posted today.

Taken together, the three papers run over 200 pages in the journal and include more 1,000 references.

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Hot new papers & articles

“Development of Health-Based Exposure Limits for RFR from Wireless Devices Using a Benchmark Dose Approach,” Environmental Health, posted July 17, 2021. From the Environmental Working Group (EWG). “The analysis presented here supports a whole-body SAR limit of 2-4 mW/Kg for adults... and 0.2-0.4 mW/Kg for young children.” Open access.
“Review of the Scientific Evidence on the Individual Sensitivity to EM fields (EHS),” Reviews of Environmental Health, posted July 6, 2021. By Dariusz Leszczynski. Includes 263 references. Open access. Five additional tables in the supplementary materials.
“Environmental Impacts of 5G: A Literature Review of Effects of RF EM Exposure of Non-Human Vertebrates, Invertebrates and Plants,” by Arno Thielens of the University of Ghent for the European Parliament, June 2021.
“Exposure to ELF Magnetic Fields and Childhood Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” PLoS One, May 14, 2021. Significant associations were observed between exposure to ELF-MFs and childhood leukemia. Furthermore, a possible dose-response effect was also observed.”
“Map-Like Use of Earth’s Magnetic Field in Sharks,” Current Biology, posted May 6, 2021. “The use of magnetic maps appears to be a fundamental tactic of how marine animals migrate. … This work points to a solution for a major puzzle in biogeography: how are migratory routes and population structure maintained in marine environments…”
“Arabidopsis Cryptochrome Is Responsive to RF EMFs,” Scientific Reports, July 9, 2021. RF “reduces conformational changes associated with biological activity” and “alters cryptochrome-dependent plant growth responses and gene expression.” This is the “first demonstration of a biological receptor responding to RF exposure.”
“5G: No New Health Risks in Light of Available Data," ANSES, April 20, 2021. French national health agency, ANSES, finds research on mm waves (26 GHz band) inadequate to judge possible health impacts. Seeks public comment.
“Manmade Electromagnetic Fields and Oxidative Stress—Biological Effects and Consequences for Health,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences, April 6, 2021. Review paper. Open access. “In summary, indications for increased oxidative stress caused by RF-EMF and ELF-MF were reported in the majority of the animal studies and in more than half of the cell studies.”
“Mutational Analysis of MpPhy Reveals Magnetoreception and Photosensitivity Involvement in Secondary Metabolites Biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus,” Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology, B: Biology, April 2021. “A coupling effect could exist between magneto-reception and photosensitivity.”
“Science, Politics, and Groupthink,” by James Lin, IEEE Microwave Magazine, May 2021. Lin faults ICNIRP for preferring to “quibble” over the 2018 NTP and Ramazzini RF–animal studies rather than concluding that they point to a cancer risk. He writes: “The simultaneous penchant to dismiss and criticize positive results and the fondness for and eager acceptance of negative findings are palpable and concerning.”

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

First NY Times, Now Scientific American

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

DNA Breaks, Oxidative Stress and Gene Expression Are on the Agenda

Fabricating History on the New York Times Science Desk

True Increases or Artifacts?

Pages

Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

Pages

Microwave News Reading

Microwave News is...

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

DNA Breaks, Oxidative Stress and
Gene Expression Are on the Agenda