A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

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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

Last updated April 28, 2022

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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Hail and Farewell
NIOSH’s Joe Bowman Dies at 73

An Expert on Exposure Assessment, He Never Gave Up

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Members of the EMF/RF research community are not known as risk takers. Some have sold their souls, but most simply follow the prescribed dogma: They keep a low profile and eke out a grant or contract here and there.

In this environment, original ideas are rare and greeted cautiously. Joe Bowman, who died on July 14, was different. As one colleague told me on hearing the news last week, “Joe was honest and he had guts.”

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Show Me the Studies!

“The Nation” Resurrects an Old Controversy

Monday, May 7, 2018

Last updated July 16, 2018

George Carlo is back. … Again.

He has a leading role in an exposé in The Nation magazine, where he is portrayed as the inside man who was hired to run a $25 million health research project for the telecom industry and later fired when he found out that cell phones present a cancer risk.

At least that’s what Carlo wants you to believe. The truth is a lot messier and a lot less favorable.

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“Clear Evidence” of Cell Phone Cancer Risk, Say Leading Pathologists

Why Peer Review Panel and NTP Interpreted the Same Animal Data Differently

Monday, April 9, 2018

Last updated February 15, 2023

“You had it right the first time.” That was the implicit message to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) from an expert panel after a point-by-point review of NTP’s draft reports on its $25 million study of cancer risks of cell phone radiation in mice and rats.

Two years ago, with the results in hand, the NTP rushed to warn the public about the dangers of cell phones. It issued an interim report pointing to higher rates of tumors in the hearts and brains of male rats exposed to two different kinds of phone radiation. Then early this February with the release of the formal draft reports, the NTP made a U-turn, saying that using a cell phone “is not a high-risk situation.”

Now a peer review panel —11 pathologists and toxicologists from academia and industry and one statistician— has concluded that there is “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” in those male rats.

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Short Takes

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.

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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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Hot new papers & articles

“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.
“Effects of Different Mobile Phone UMTS Signals on DNA, Apoptosis and Oxidative Stress in Human Lymphocytes,” Environmental Pollution, December 2020. “Our data support a notion that each specific signal used in mobile communication should be tested in specially designed experiments.”
“Effect of Intermittent ELF MF on Umbilical Cord Blood Lymphocytes,” Bioelectromagnetics, posted November 15, 2020. Among the findings: A stronger effect at lower field strengths. Also: “[O]ur results provide a new example of the biological relevance of the first Schumann resonance frequency (7.8 Hz).”
“Human EMF Exposure in 5G at 28 GHz,” IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, Nov/Dec 2020. Compares skin penetration and SARs for 3G, 4G and 5G phone exposures.
“Cellular Phone Use and Risk of Tumors: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, posted November 2, 2020. “This comprehensive meta-analysis of case-control studies found evidence that linked cellular phone use to increased tumor risk.” An update to a 2009 meta-analysis by the same group.
“An Overview of Potential Novel Mechanisms of Action Underlying Tumor Treating Fields-induced Cancer Cell Death and Their Clinical Implications,” International Journal of Radiation Biology, posted October 21, 2020. “Recent findings implicate TTFields’ role in different important pathways such as DNA damage response and replication stress, ER stress, membrane permeability, autophagy, and immune response.”
“Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Occupational Exposure to ELF Magnetic Fields and Electric Shocks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Reviews on Environmental Health, posted September 18, 2020. “This review of 27 epidemiological studies on the association of occupational exposure to ELF-MF as well as electric shocks and the risk of ALS suggests a risk increase of 20% for ELF-MF exposed workers but no increased risk for workers who experienced electric shocks on their job.” But, just a few days later, a New Zealand team reaches the opposite conclusion.
“Pilot Study on the Therapeutic Potential of RF Magnetic Fields: Growth Inhibition of Implanted Tumors,” British Journal of Cancer, September 2020. “Although the limited number of animals used in the experiments restricts definite conclusions, the results of this pilot study indicate consistently that a 2 µT 10 MHz RF inhibits tumor growth in mouse models.” … “[T]there is no clear understanding on the mechanism behind the observed effect.”
“Effects of RFR on Gene Expression: A Study of Gene Expressions of Human Keratinocytes from Different Origins,” Bioelectromagnetics, October 2020. “Our data demonstrate that in the four keratinocyte [skin] cell types, three different expression patterns (downregulation, upregulation, and no effect) were observed, despite their exposure having been the same in all regards.” See also this string of six tweets.
“Association Between Outdoor Light-at-Night Exposure and Colorectal Cancer in Spain,” Epidemiology, September 2020. “Outdoor blue light spectrum exposure that is increasingly prevalent in recent years may be associated with colorectal cancer risk.” An earlier paper linked blue light to breast and prostate cancer.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

GBM Rise Only in Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Verifying NTP Cancer Findings

An Expert on Exposure Assessment, He Never Gave Up

“The Nation” Resurrects an Old Controversy

Why Peer Review Panel and NTP Interpreted the Same Animal Data Differently

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Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

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