A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

The Precarious Case
Against Precaution

A Deep Dive into the Swedish Cancer Registry

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Last updated March 30, 2019

It has been nearly eight years since an expert panel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified RF radiation as a possible human carcinogen. Since then, neither the World Health Organization (WHO) nor the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has recommended precautionary policies to limit potential health risks.

No U.S. health agency has yet advised the public to reduce RF exposures.

Even after two large animal studies —by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) and Italy’s Ramazzini Institute— presented clear evidence of a cancer link last year, the WHO has remained silent; ICNIRP responded by calling both animal studies unconvincing.

Now comes the Annual Review of Public Health, which on January 11 posted a paper by five leading epidemiologists who posit that, after a systematic review of all the human studies, they don’t see an elevated cancer risk. The takeaway is that the IARC classification was a mistake.

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Aussies Claim No Brain Tumor Link; Skepticism Abounds

Why Were Older People Excluded?
No One Wants To Talk About It

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Last updated January 10, 2019

The incidence of brain tumors in Australia did not increase between 2003 and 2013, according to a new analysis by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research (ACEBR). This means that there can be no link between the use of mobile phones and brain cancer, they claim.

If such an association were true, “then the brain tumor rates would be higher than those that are observed,” states an ARPANSA press release that accompanies the new paper published in BMJ Open.

“People say mobile phones can cause cancer but our study showed this was not the case,” said ARPANSA’s Ken Karipidis, the lead author.

Others are skeptical. The work is incomplete and misleading —or worse, they say.

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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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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

Expert Report by Christopher J. Portier, March 1, 2021, filed with the Superior Court for the District of Columbia (Civil Division) on March 3, 2021 in the case of Murray (et al.) v. Motorola (et al.) (2001 CA 008479 B). “In my opinion, RF exposure probably causes gliomas and neuromas and, given the human and experimental evidence, I assert that, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, the probability that RF exposure causes gliomas and neuromas is high.”
“Associations Between Artificial Light at Night and Risk for Thyroid Cancer: A Large U.S. Cohort Study,” Cancer, February 8, 2021. “We found that higher [light at night] levels were associated with higher thyroid cancer incidence in middle-aged to older adults in the U.S.”
”Is There Evidence for Oxidative Stress Caused by EMFs?” by Meike Mevissen & David Schūrmann, BERENIS Newsletter, January 2021. A ”tendency becomes apparent...that EMF exposure, even in the low dose range, can lead to changes in oxidative balance." Those with diabetes & immune deficiencies may be at greater risk.”
“Electromagnetic Fields, 5G and Health: What About the Precautionary Principle?” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, January 19, 2021, by John William Frank of the University of Edinburgh. “After reviewing the evidence cited above, the writer, an experienced physician-epidemiologist, is convinced that RF-EMFs may well have serious human health effects."
“Cellular Autofluorescence Is Magnetic Field Sensitive,” PNAS, January 19, 2021. A big step forward for the radical pair mechanism to explain biological interactions with magnetic fields.
“Wireless Hazards,” by Barbara Koeppel, American Spectator, December 28, 2020. An in-depth look at the science and politics of our “love affair with all things wireless.”
“A CIA Officer Has a Headache. Media Blame Russia,” FAIR, December 16, 2020. A very different take on the GQ magazine article: “The Mystery of Immaculate Concussion.” Throws cold water on the hype over “some sort of hitherto unheard-of Kremlin microwave gun” and asks: “Why is there so little skepticism of fanciful official claims in corporate media?”
“A Computational Investigation of Strain Concentration in the Brain in Response to a Rapid Temperature Rise,” Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, March 2021. Microwave pulses and embassy illness: Computer simulations show importance of how long they are (or more importantly, how short) to cause potential ill effects in the brain.
“Is the Increasing Incidence of Thyroid Cancer in the Nordic Countries Caused by Use of Mobile Phones?” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, posted December 7, 2020. Open access. “We postulate that RF radiation is a causative factor for the increasing thyroid cancer incidence.”
“An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies,” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Released December 5, 2020. “Overall, directed pulsed RF energy, especially in those with the distinct early manifestations, appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these case.” See also this thread of nine tweets.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

A Deep Dive into the Swedish Cancer Registry

Why Were Older People Excluded?No One Wants To Talk About It

Deconstructing a New York Times Headline

Did New York Times Have an Inside Track?

Rats Developed Rare Heart TumorCancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible

Pages

Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

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Microwave News Reading

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Why Were Older People Excluded?
No One Wants To Talk About It

Rats Developed Rare Heart Tumor
Cancer Link Was Once Thought Impossible