A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Cell Phones and Cancer:
Your Genes May Tell the Story

Genetic Susceptibility and RF Radiation Modulate Thyroid Cancer

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Last January, a team led by Yawei Zhang of the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven published an epidemiological study on the possible link between thyroid cancer and cell phones. Though some “suggestive” associations were seen among long-term users, none was statistically significant. Still, the results “warrant further investigation,” they advised.

Zhang did follow up, and what she found could well change the way people think about cell phone cancer risks.

She discovered that some people have an innate susceptibility to thyroid cancer when exposed to cell phone radiation. These individuals have small variations in their DNA which affect the functioning of seven different genes.

All seven genes regulate DNA repair.

Continues

GBM Incidence Rates Relatively
Steady in U.S. and Canada

Unlike the Doubling Seen in England

Friday, December 13, 2019

The incidence of glioblastoma multiforme, GBM, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, though rising slowly over the last 20 years, has not jumped up in the U.S. and Canada, as it has in England and a number of other northern European countries, according to a new analysis of national brain tumor registry data.

Between 1995 and 2015, GBM rates went up 10% in the U.S. and 26% in Canada. In contrast, the increase in England over the same period was 110%.

Continues

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.

Continues

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.

Continues

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.

Continues

Pages

Short Takes

NCI ‘Cancer Bioelectricity’ Conference

August 26, 2024

On September 12^th, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) will host a conference on cancer bioelectricity via Zoom. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Michael Levin, a professor of biology and biomedical engineering at Tufts University in Massachusetts, will be the keynote speaker.

Continues

Another WHO RF Review Challenged

August 21, 2024

Last updated December 13, 2024

A third RF systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization’s EMF Project is under fire. This one is on RF–induced oxidative stress.

Last month, two other WHO reviews —on pregnancy outcomes and on tinnitus— were both called into question as critics called for them to be retracted.

A team of 14 from six countries, led by Felix Meyer of the German Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), identified 11,599 studies on oxidative stress in the frequency range 800-2450 MHz. They then eliminated 11,543 of them as not meeting their criteria for inclusion.

Continues

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

Help Support
Microwave News

Sign Up Here for
E-Mail Alerts

Hot new papers & articles

“Static Magnetic Fields from Earphones: Detailed Measurements Plus Some Open Questions,” Environmental Research, November 2022. From Argentina and Slovakia. Team includes Igor Belyaev. “Overall, it is concluded that the whole of the literature precludes assuming that, a priori, static magnetic fields from earphones are innocuous.”
“Interagency Committee on the Health Effects of Non-Ionising Fields: Report to Ministers,” New Zealand Ministry of Health, June 28, 2022. Report runs 107 pages: offers a full-throated endorsement of ICNIRP (on both RF and ELF EMFs) and recommends adoption of ICNIRP’s 2020 RF exposures guidelines. Strangely, committee members not named and they are not allowed to speak to the media.
“Use of Mobile Phones and the Incidence of Glioma Since 1979,” IARC’s Isabelle Deltour and Joachim Schüz for Germany’s Federal Office of Radiation Protection, June 30, 2022. Free access. An increased risk of brain tumors in the 10% heaviest mobile phone users remains “plausible.” But any risk would be ”very small”, and would only occur after “very long latency periods of several decades”, or only affect small subgroups within glioma patients. For context go here.
“Self-Referencing Authorships Behind the ICNIRP 2020 Radiation Protection Guidelines,” Else Nordhagen and Einar Flydal, Reviews on Environmental Health, June 27, 2022. Two key findings: “ICNIRP 2020 authors are involved in all literature reviews referenced in ICNIRP 2020 to underpin it”; and “a small and tight network of just 17 authors behind all the literature used to underpin ICNIRP 2020.” From Norway; open access.
“Selective Cell Cycle Arrest in Glioblastoma Cell Lines by Quantum Molecular Resonance Alone or in Combination with Temozolomid,” British Journal of Cancer, June 17, 2022. A new “innovative option” to treat all-too-lethal glioblastoma with 4-64 MHz nanosecond pulses. “Quantum molecular resonance” therapy reduces cell proliferation in malignant cell lines with little effect on healthy cells. From Italy. Open Access.
“Human Magnetic Sense Is Mediated by a Light and Magnetic Field Resonance‐Dependent Mechanism,” Scientific Reports, May 30, 2022. Establishes “the existence of a human magnetic sense to the geomagnetic field.” But, at least in this experiment, magnetic orientation was seen in men but not in women.
“An Overview of the Biological Effects of ELF EMFs Combined with Ionizing Radiation,” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, May 2, 2022. A review from Iran. “Contrary to the studies on normal healthy cells, almost all of the reviewed experiments on cancer cells have demonstrated cooperative effects between ELF-MF and IR exposures.”
“Neurological Effects of Static and ELF EMFs,” by Henry Lai, Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, April 15, 2022. “Depending on the conditions of exposure, either harmful or beneficial effects could result.”
“Exposure to Magnetic Fields and Childhood Leukemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cohort Studies,” Reviews on Environmental Health, March 15, 2022. A systematic review of 38 studies, which comes 43 years after Nancy Wertheimer and Ed Leeper first made the link. For years, they were largely ignored and ridiculed. “Our results suggest that ELF-MF higher than 0.4 μT can increase the risk of developing leukemia in children, probably acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Prolonged exposure to electric appliances that generate magnetic fields higher than 0.4 μT like electric blankets is associated with a greater risk of childhood leukemia.” From Christian Brabant’s group at the University of Liège, Belgium.
“Changes in the Excitability of Primary Hippocampal Neurons Following Exposure to 3.0 GHz RF EMFs,” Scientific Reports, March 3, 2022. The results show that RF-EMF exposure can alter neuronal activity after a 60-minute exposure to 3.0 GHz at a low dose (SAR <1 W/Kg). From the U.S. Air Force. Open access.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Genetic Susceptibility and RF Radiation Modulate Thyroid Cancer

Unlike the Doubling Seen in England

First NY Times, Now Scientific American

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

Fabricating History on the New York Times Science Desk

Pages

Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

Pages

Microwave News Reading

Microwave News is...

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