A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Friday, September 8, 2006

The WHO EMF Project may close down early next year unless more money is received soon.

According to its 2005-2006 progress report, the project had a deficit of $430,000 in its last fiscal year. Between July 2005 and June 2006, it spent $1,155,000 but raised only $750,000. (As in the past, the report does not give any details on where its money came from, though cell phone manufacturers have regularly chipped in $150,000 each year.) The annual report states that all its reserve funds have been depleted and that "if sufficient funds are not received by the end of 2006, the activities of the EMF Project will cease early in 2007."

Emilie van Deventer took over as the head of the project earlier this summer after Mike Repacholi stepped down.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Scientists from New Zealand, the U.K. and Finland are worried about a different kind of electromagnetic weapon: One that could wreck havoc with the world's communications systems —think HAARP run by a Herman Kahn wannabe. Check out the press release issued today by the University of Otago. For background, see "Nuclear Explosions in Orbit," a feature article originally published in Scientific American.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Microwave weapons for crowd control used to be top-secret stuff. No more. Raytheon, which makes them for the military, now promotes its Silent Guardian, a smaller version of its Active Denial system (see MWN, M/A01, p.1), on the Web. Silent Guardian is "available now and ready for action," Raytheon promises. The company even discloses its range, which used to be closely held. It can "de-escalate aggression" at 250 yards, Raytheon states in its best defense-speak. To tempt you further, you can also download a 30-second video, with an up-tempo soundtrack.     

Monday, August 7, 2006

The trend continues. The August issue of Radiation Research is out and it has two papers on the possible effects of RF/microwave radiation, one from Finland and one Sweden. In each case, no effects were found. (See our July 31 post.)   

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

The incidence of malignant tumors on the two top floors of a high-rise buildingat RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, are within the expected range, according to reports released today.

When benign tumors are included, however, the total tumor count is statistically higher than expected. Southern Medical Services, which carried out the occupational health and safety assessment for RMIT, attributes the "apparent increase" to incomplete collection of benign tumor data by the cancer registry.

The reports, together with RMIT public statements, are available from the RMIT Web site. (See also our posts of June 1 and before.) Southern Medical Services, found that "there is no correlation between tumor case office locations and ELF magnetic fields greater than 4 mG." 

Pages

Short Takes

Italy’s 6 V/m RF Limit at Risk

March 14, 2024

The International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) has written to Italian government officials to support the country’s strict 6 V/m RF exposure limit.

The letter, dated March 13, expresses “great concern” that the standard might be weakened. It is signed by Ronald Melnick, the chair of ICBE-EMF, and by Elizabeth Kelley, its managing director.

Continues

“NTP Lite”: Update from Japan

March 12, 2024

The Japanese group running a partial repeat of the NTP RF cancer study has not observed genotoxic effects among male rats exposed to 900 MHz CDMA radiation at 4 W/Kg, according to a paper to be presented tomorrow at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Salt Lake City, UT (SOT2024).

The analysis of the cancer data is ongoing and will not be reported.

Continues

Schwannoma Puzzle

September 14, 2023
Last updated September 16, 2023

Three medical doctors have published a case report of a 40-year-old Italian man who developed a tumor in his thigh, near where he “habitually” kept his smartphone in a trouser pocket.

The case was published at the end of August in Radiology Case Reports, a peer-reviewed, open access journal.

The tumor, a painless mass, gradually expanded in the man’s left thigh over a period of six months, they wrote.

Continues

Korean NTP Lite: Progress Report

June 16, 2023
Last updated June 17, 2023

A Korean RF genotoxicology study —part of a joint project with Japan— has been delayed due to the unexpected death of four of the RF–exposed rats early in the accompanying two-year cancer experiment, according to Young Hwan Ahn of Ajou University medical school.

Ahn presented a progress report on the Korean arm of the project in Geneva last week at a meeting of the WHO EMF Project’s International Advisory Committee. Microwave News has obtained a copy of Ahn’s PowerPoint presentation.

Continues

ICNIRP Still Runs RF at WHO

June 5, 2023
Last updated June 8, 2023

ICNIRP continues to dominate EMF policies at the WHO, according to documents made available to Microwave News.

The documents were recently distributed by Emilie van Deventer as she prepared to host a briefing this week for its International Advisory Committee (IAC) in Geneva.

Continues

Pulsed RF: Plausible Cause of Havana Syndrome

March 30, 2023

A newly declassified, though heavily redacted, report from the intelligence community has put renewed emphasis on the possibility that the condition known as “Havana Syndrome” could be caused by pulsed RF energy.

“Electromagnetic energy, particularly pulsed signals in the radiofrequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics [of Havana Syndrome, also called ‘anomalous health incidents’] although information gaps exist,” the intelligence panel concluded.

Continues

All Short Takes...