A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Italian RF–Animal Study:
“Consistent with” and “Reinforces” U.S. NTP Cancer Finding

Ramazzini’s Belpoggi Calls for IARC To Reassess RF–Cancer Risk

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Partial results of the Ramazzini Institute’s RF–animal study, which show a statistically significant increase in tumors in the hearts of male rats exposed to GSM radiation, were officially released today. They appear in Environmental Research, a peer-reviewed journal.

As we reported last month, the Ramazzini finding of Schwann cell tumors —called schwannomas— in the rat hearts is consistent with a similar finding by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) in a $25 million RF project.

In an interview with Microwave News, Fiorella Belpoggi, the senior author of the new paper and the director of the Ramazzini Institute’s Research Center in Bologna, Italy, offered her views on the new results, the parallels with those of the NTP and the implications for IARC’s designation of the cancer risk of RF radiation.

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“More Than a Coincidence”

New Large Animal Study, Like NTP’s, Links RF to Schwannoma of the Heart

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Last updated March 6, 2018

It’s happened again.

A second large study has found tumors in the Schwann cells —schwannomas— in the hearts of male rats exposed to cell phone radiation.

The new finding comes from the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy.

The malignant schwannomas of the heart seen in the Italian study are the same as those described by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) earlier this month as the basis for their concern that cell phone radiation, both GSM and CDMA, can lead to cancer.

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What Changed at NTP?

Same RF Cancer Data, Different Outlook

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Why was the NTP so ambivalent about its cell phone cancer findings at the press conference last Friday when two years ago the same scientific evidence prompted a public health warning?

Some of the pathology numbers got tweaked since they were first released in 2016, but the changes were minor. It’s the same data set —but with a very different interpretation. The NTP mindset somehow shifted from we need to release this important new health data now to this is “not a high-risk situation.”

Who or what moved the NTP managers to change their outlook? There’s no shortage of suspects and suspicions.

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EMFs and Miscarriages:
The Evidence Mounts

At Least 7 Studies Now Show an Association
Kaiser’s De-Kun Li Answers His Critics

Monday, December 18, 2017

Magnetic fields at levels commonly found in homes, offices and the urban environment have once again been found to increase the risk of pregnancy loss. The latest study —from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA— shows that power-frequency fields can triple the risk of miscarriages.

“This study provides fresh evidence, directly from a human population, that magnetic field exposure in daily life could have adverse health impacts,” De-Kun Li, the lead author of the Kaiser study, told Microwave News. These findings “should bring attention to this potentially important environmental hazard to pregnant women,” Li urges.

There are now at least seven studies linking miscarriages to prenatal exposure to electromagnetic fields, according to Li.

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The Anatomy of a Rumor

Karolinska’s Maria Feychting Cites Pathology Bias To Discredit NTP RF Cancer Study

Friday, December 1, 2017

Last updated December 2, 2017

”A few days ago, I received an urgent warning from a longtime contact in Sweden. An industry associate had told him that the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s study on cell phone cancer risks was screwed up and essentially “useless.”

I was tempted to disregard it as nothing more than a corporate delusion. But the original source was said to be Maria Feychting, a professor at the Karolinska Institute and the vice chair of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). She had cast doubt on the landmark $25 million NTP RF–animal study in a talk presented at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences —the institute that awards the Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry every year.

I decided I had to check out the rumor.

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Short Takes

Abe Liboff Dies at 95

January 12, 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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Italy’s 6 V/m RF Limit at Risk

May 3, 2021

Last updated May 5, 2021

Italy’s 6 V/m RF exposure standard, one of the strictest in the world, may soon fall victim to 5G.

The Italian limit, adopted more than 20 years ago, is widely perceived as standing in the way of the build-out of 5G infrastructure, which will require the installation of many more RF antennas. The proposed solution is to bring it in line with ICNIRP and follow its 61 V/m guideline.

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Hot new papers & articles

“Setting Guidelines for EM Exposures and Research Needs,” by Frank Barnes and Ben Greenebaum, Bioelectromagnetics, posted April 20, 2020. “Over the last 20 years the evidence has become extremely strong that weaker EMF over the whole range for frequencies from static through mm waves can modify biological processes.” They propose starting with a limit of 0.1 V/m. Note that the 4 W/m² (400 μW/cm²) that follows 0.1 V/m on p.5 of the letter was a slip-up and should not be there.
“Association Between Maternal Exposure to Magnetic Field NIR During Pregnancy and Risk of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort,” JAMA Network Open, March 24, 2020. See also: “Notice of Retraction and Replacement.” “Consistent with the emerging literature, this study suggests that in utero exposure to high levels of MF non-onizing radiation was associated with an increased risk of ADHD, especially ADHD with immune-related comorbidity.” The most recent study by De-Kun Li of Kaiser Permanente. Note: “high” is defined as a 24-hour exposure of ≥1.5 mG (90^th percentile). According to a 1998 survey, >40% of Americans are exposed to >1 mG. And the ICNIRP 2010 guidelines allow the general public to be exposed up to 2,000 mG.
Review of Published Literature between 2008 and 2018 of Relevance to Radiofrequency Radiation and Cancer, U.S. FDA, released February 10, 2020. “[T]here is insufficient evidence to support a causal association between RFR exposure and tumorigenesis. There is a lack of clear dose-response relationship, a lack of consistent findings or specificity and a lack of biological mechanistic plausibility.”
“RF-Induced Temperature Increase in a Stratified Model of the Skin for Plane-Wave Exposure at 6-100 GHz,” Radiation Protection Dosimetry, posted January 16, 2020. “The maximum observed temperature increase is 0.4°C for exposure at the present power density limit for the general population of 10 W/m² [1 mW/cm²]. This result is more than twice as high as the findings reported in a previous study.” From IT’IS in Zurich.
“Comparative Cyto- and Genotoxicity of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz EMF Radiations in Root Meristems Allium cepa,” Exotoxicology and Environmental Safety, January 2020. Very low SARs lead to DNA breaks: 0.09 W/Kg @900 MHz and 0.169 W/Kg @1.8 GHz. Damage “more pronounced” at 1800 MHz. (Allium cepa = onion)
“Whole-Body Exposures to RF-EMF Energy Can Cause DNA Damage in Mouse Spermatozoa via an Oxidative Mechanism,” Scientific Reports, November 25, 2019. In summary, our evidence supports the hypothesis that sustained whole-body RF-EME is capable of inducing a state of oxidative stress in the male germ line, a cell vulnerable to the effects of ROS. … Furthermore, our data further implicate the mitochondria as the target for RF-EME biophysical interaction, with a consequential elevation of mitochondrial ROS generation being linked to reduced motility and elevated oxidative DNA damage and DNA fragmentation in the spermatozoa of exposed male.” From Australia. Open access.
“Changes in Trends in Thyroid Cancer Incidence in the United States, 1992 to 2016,” Journal of the American Medical Association, December 24-31, 2019. “Between 2009 and 2016, after 3 decades of rapid increase, the incidence of thyroid cancer incidence in the United States reached a plateau and possibly started to decline.”
“If Jet Radars Don’t Raise Cancer Risk, Why Did the Navy Coat Some Cockpits in Gold?” McClatchy News, November 27, 2019. An investigation has found a cluster of cancer cases among U.S. Navy pilots of E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft exposed to radar radiation.
“Evaluation of the Genotoxicity of Cell Phone RFR in Male and Female Rats and Mice following Subchronic Exposure,” Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, posted October 21, 2019. From the NTP: "[S]ignificant increases in the levels of DNA damage measured by the comet assay were seen in several tissues from rats and mice, indicating that RFR may be capable of causing increases in DNA damage.” More here and here.
“Parental Occupational Exposure to Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields and Risk of Leukaemia in the Offspring,” Occupational & Environmental Medicine, July 29, 2019. “We did not find any associations.” Pooled analysis of 11 case-control studies by the Childhood Leukaemia International Consortium, including Joachim Schüz of IARC and Elisabeth Cardis. Open access.

A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

News & Comment

Ramazzini’s Belpoggi Calls for IARC To Reassess RF–Cancer Risk

New Large Animal Study, Like NTP’s, Links RF to Schwannoma of the Heart

Same RF Cancer Data, Different Outlook

At Least 7 Studies Now Show an AssociationKaiser’s De-Kun Li Answers His Critics

Karolinska’s Maria Feychting Cites Pathology Bias To Discredit NTP RF Cancer Study

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Short Takes

Hot new papers & articles

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At Least 7 Studies Now Show an Association
Kaiser’s De-Kun Li Answers His Critics