Safety is not assured, nor is it even likely under safety limits
for electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that were originally designed for
short-term exposures and never anticipated the new wireless world. A
meeting this week at the Royal Society of London organized by Coghill
Research Labs previewed the results of the newly released
BioInitiative Report (www.bioinitiative.org). Experts from the fields
of cancer, immunology, public health and environmental policy who
authored the BioInitiative Report presented scientific evidence in
support of an urgent call for new biologically-based public exposure
standards to deal with pulsed radiofrequency and microwave radiation
from cell phones and towers that transmit the signals (masts). The
Report also recommends a thousand-fold lower limit for children
exposed to electric energy sources like appliances and power lines.
At the Royal Society conference, BioInitiative co-editor Cindy
Sage of Sage Associates summarized the scientific evidence from the
Report documenting the inadequacy of existing international public
safety standards. Brain tumor specialist Dr. Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD
and Professor at University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden spoke on his
BioInitiative chapter on brain tumors and acoustic neuromas. His work
on cell phones, cordless phones and brain tumors is widely recognized
to be pivotal in the debate about the safety of wireless
radiofrequency and microwave radiation. Olle Johansson, PhD,
Karolinska Institute and BioInitiative Report author presented on EMR
effects on immune function and electrical hypersensitivity.
The world´s safety limits are out of date and irrelevant for
chronic exposures to low-level EMR since they did not anticipate the
advent of a wireless world, with new forms of pulsed radiation that
widely affect populations 24-hours a day. Today´s wireless environment
virtually layers all of us with multiple exposures that appear to
cause health effects that may include chronic illness and death. The
use of cell phones is linked to increased risk of brain tumors and
acoustic neuromas with 10 or more years of use, and the evidence for
exposure to EMF (from power lines and appliances) points to genetic
damage, several childhood and adult cancers and Alzheimer´s disease.
Several other speakers chronicled life-changing illnesses that
occurred following the erection of masts near their homes. Electrical
hypersensitivity - which can be debilitating - is thought to result
from large changes in the immune system caused by continuing exposure
to artificial EMR, leading to chronic inflammation and allergic
responses. Estimates reach from 3% to 10% of populations in the UK,
other European and the Nordic countries.
