Beyond Radiation

Literature Review – Transmitters and Health

What are the health risks of transmitters? How is this issue addressed by the WHO (World Health Organisation)?

I looked at chronic, 24/7 exposure. So, I reviewed research papers focusing on:

-    Mobile phone base stations (cell towers) + TETRA

-    AM / FM Radio + Analog /digital TV masts + Radar

This review is available at:

http://www.uta.fi/~mikko.ahonen/riski-extra.htm

I listed research papers with both positive and negative findings. I also included occupational exposure data and nature related data.

(Photo: Ferihegy airport, Budapest, Hungary, July 2009. An observation: two children very close to antennas.)

Increased leukemia and lymphoma rates come up regularly in FM / AM Radio + Television transmitter research papers (8 out of 10 papers). Mobile phone base stations are a newer phenomenon and the symptoms and illnesses seem to be more versatile ranging from sleep problems to neurological illnesses and breast cancer ( 10 out of 13 papers indicated increased risk ). It is difficult to compare these papers with each other, because not every paper has radiation power density measurements included.

After all these findings, the WHO officially announces:

“Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.“ .

Definitely, WHO International EMF Project folks are playing with the word ‘evidence’.

Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern + How Susceptible Are Genes to Mobile Phone Radiation?

A new report was released today by the International EMF Collaborative entitled:

"Cellphones and Brain Tumors:

15 Reasons for Concern

Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone"

Conclusions:

• There is a risk of brain tumors from cellphone use

• Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors

• Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors.

Since I was one of the signatories, I would like to see the message of the report relayd first and foremost to families with children:

Please, Check the Personal Actions at Page 31.  Inform Families and Friends Close to You. 

Signatories have drafted the following actions to be implemented globally:

Little Breakthrough, Perhaps? In Finland and Hopefully in USA

Today, 24th August 2009, the major newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, published a small article about mobile phones and health risks of children ("Lasten kännykän käyttö on terveysriski"). This article was written by professor Osmo Hänninen, doctor Seppo Kinnunen and myself. The newspaper did not publish the link to references, so here they are with the article in Finnish.

Update 12th September 2009: Now an English version available: "Mobile phone use of children is a health risk".

Even the Ilta-Sanomat  ("The Sun of Finland") made a news item "Asiantuntijat varoittavat kännykän käytön vaaroista= Experts warn about the risks of mobile phone use" of our little article. Maybe (finally) Finnish parents will stop buying mobile phones to their little children. In this Crazy Mobile Land service providers are actively marketing mobile phones to children in every newspaper, even in the Donald Duck (Aku Ankka) magazine :-( School start is a special campaign time with Habbo Hotel figures integrated to cell phone commercials (1). Really irresponsible behaviour... 

My American friends have been working hard to organise a meeting in Washington: "Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health: Science and Public Policy Questions" ,  which will be held between September 13-15 in 2009 at the Credit Union House. 

Update 15th September 2009:

The actual Hearing:

"Health Effects of Cell Phone Use"

started on Monday 14th September 2009 at 2:00PM US Eastern time and was broadcasted live on C-SPAN 3 and it can be viewed at:

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=288879-1 , please, click the Flash video icon.

(Link updated).

Special thanks to senator Arlen Specter. I hope that it will be a success and US representatives will (finally) start funding independent health studies of mobile phones.

I am just tired of corruption and misconduct in this area, that is why I wish more independent research.  _{To my Finnish readers: Allekirjoitapa seuraava adressi: "Matkapuhelinteollisuuden edustajat pois terveystutkimushankkeista", että saadaan tutkimuksen näkökulma esille.}  

France just made a nice move, when it is preparing to make scientific boards really scientific without industry representatives.  I hope that other nations will follow.

STUK censored blogs: ICNIRP wall starts to break

The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK, SäteilyTUrvaKeskus) got worried.

In January 2009 STUK tried a new, more open strategy, so their representatives started blogging and getting feedback.

On  23rd June 2009 all four official blogs (one in English, three in Finnish) were shut down  and removed from the STUK website as “not being in line with the STUK policy” :-(

The content of those censored blogs is revealing and especially comments are worth reading.

Take a look what was censored:

- 2 blog threads in English from Professor Dariusz Leszczynski: “Thermal or Non-Thermal: That is the Question” + “From China with Love”. Dariusz himself writes very wise and neutral blog posts and I am glad that a) he continues blogging in this new Wordpress address, b) he has saved the original comments.

_{- 1 blog thread in Finnish from the Director of STUK, Jukka Laaksonen: “}Ionisoimaton säteily ei ole riskitöntä _{”,  a screen capture. Translation:  ”Non-Ionising Radiation Is Not Risk-Free Radiation”. That director did not respond to any comments he received. What a blogger.).}

No wonder the STUK sponsors: service providers and mobile manufacturers, got upset and perhaps increased pressure towards STUK to shut down those blogs in the STUK website.

The discussion (Comments) in those blog threads contain sensitive topics: Biological effects, the twisted funding of scientific research, thermal hot-spots, risks of TETRA [1],[2], people getting ill/staying ill at 1/10.000 part of thermal-only based ICNIRP guidance levels etc. It seems to me that those "radiation protection" authorities in Western countries just can not handle their job any more to protect population; this censorship shows it very clearly.

- See also my previous story about the closed club called ICNIRP with a nice video ;-)

- Check how difficult it was here in Finland to get the chidren's mobile phone use related recommendation from the STUK.

- Check how the ICNIRP Game is being played (search for "ICNIRP game") and why science is not science any more [1],[2],[3],[4],[5].

Glad to hear your opinions, folks :-)

ITK 2009 Hämeenlinna and Environmental BioIndicators Moscow -conferences

In 2 conferences I will talk about healthier, more sustainable practices in using educational technologies:

1. Mobiilioppiminen – miten mahdolliset terveysriskit vaikuttavat
opetuksen käytäntöihin

[Mobile learning - What kind of impact do health risks have on educational practices]

 

Together with professor in physiology, Osmo Hänninen and with researcher Antti Syvänen.

On Thursday, 23th April 2009 at the ITK-Conference, Interaktiivinen Tekniikka Koulutuksessa, Hämeenlinna, Aulanko, Finland.

Esitysrunko + Lataa koko ITK-esitys, päivitetty versio 17.5.2009 klo 8:45.

2.  Schools, Wireless Technologies and Health Risks - How to Minimise Radiation Exposure

In the 17th International Conference on Environmental BioIndicators

 

On 17th-22nd May 2009 in Moscow, Russia

Abstract (draft)

In this presentation I will also discuss about mobile phone base stations and their proper siting.

It will be great to meet (again) professors Oleg and Yuri Grigoriev in Moscow from the RNCNIRP (Russian National Committee on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) :-)  Please, check the latest recommendations of RNCNIRP in English: [1],[2].

What is your opinion: Are health risks of children properly addressed in today's schools? Do you happen to know good educational practices to reduce microwave exposure?

EU Parliament: No base stations close to schools and no mobile phone marketing to children + News from France

Press release: Avoiding potential risks of electromagnetic fields, European Parliament, Public health - 02-04-2009 - 12:34

"Antennas, mobile phone masts and other electromagnetic emitting devices should be set within a specific distance from schools and health institutions, according to a report adopted by the European Parliament. The Commission should make more reliable information available about the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields to citizens who feel that they are not well informed. The report was adopted with 559 votes in favour, 22 against and 8 abstentions."

A video by the European Parliament:

MP Frédérique Ries has done excellent job :-)

Update 3th August 2009: France will legislatively ban mobile phones in schools. Additionally, some French cities have dropped the guidance level (radiation level) of base stations to 0.6 V/m (1000 uW/m2). Remember, ICNIRP guidance level is above 58 V/m (>2.000.000 uW/m2). _{Even in Finland this has created discussion in the heavily exposed city of Turku}.

Previous, historical steps:

Irradiating skiers in Lapland, Saariselkä

"Around Saariselkä, the vastest fell highland of northern Europe can be discovered, where clean nature, its beauty and the silence of fells allow you to relax"

Think again.

Every year, there will be more transmitters and antennas on the top of the Kaunispää mountain (fell), in Saariselkä, Lapland.

Well, that's not all. This active radiating continues in the ski lift of children:

ICNIRP - History and Industry Connections - a Video

Those ICNIRP (International Comission of Non-Ionising Radiation 'Protection') guidance levels [1],[2] for electromagnetic radiation exposure are ridicuouly (and dangerously) high in our environment.

Please, watch the marvellous 'A Radiant Day'  video. It describes the historical origins of ICNIRP guidance levels. Video contains also interesting interviews: Igor Belyaev, Eva Markova, Gerd Oberfeld, John Osepchuck, Michael Repacholi,  etc. 

 

Description of the Norwegian TV NRK1 video

Update 7th March 2009: Dr Neil Cherry once wrote:

"The standard based on the ICNIRP Guidelines is focused on avoiding tissue heating, not based on biological and epidemiological evidence. The maintenance of the standard is obtained by ignoring or rejecting any and all evidence that contradicts it."

I am amazed how accurate his following critique of ICNIRP is now, almost ten years after the first publication!

UPDATE: Critic of the ICNIRP and the International EMF-Project at the WHO - collected:

http://www.chronicexposure.org/limitsICNIRP.html

 

Finland limits mobile phone use of children + Genotoxic effects

I am relieved!

Säteilyturvakeskus, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Finland (STUK) announced 7th of January 2009 a recommendation [1]:

 - "Children's mobile phone use should be limited" (Lasten matkapuhelimen käyttöä on hyvä rajoittaa)

 

After several (years of) warnings from Osmo Hänninen (professor in physiology), STUK finally listens. Maybe Osmo's book (in Finnish) and our little TV tour in the summer 2008 helped? Or maybe professor Dariusz Leszczynski finally managed to explain to those Warm-Only-Fellows in the STUK what biological effects mean? Or...the Finnish citizens do't believe in the STUK thermal explanation model any more[1]? 

Update 26th June 2009: Professor Osmo Hänninen and I met the Minister of Health, Paula Risikko, in October 2008 in Helsinki and discussed about the risk of children, among other topics. I highly respect Mrs Risikko because after our meeting she visited the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and most likely she was able to influence STUK representatives to give the recommendation in January 2009.

Additionally, I submitted through Mrs. Terttu Savolainen an Official Inquiry (In Finnish) to the highest doctor in the Ministry of Health, Dr Mikko Paunio. This Inquiry (dated 23th September 2008) was related to DNA-damage of mobile phones and I asked whether the Ministry of Health will advice the Ministry of Transport and Communication to stop the shut down of landlines in counties in Finland. My Inquiry was so sensitive, that so far (June 2009) I have not received any answer. I have twice asked Mr Paunio about it, without response from him or from STUK.  

 Update 10th January 2008:

- Please, check a large selection of biological effects related papers.

- What about children in the countryside (of Finland and Sweden) where the operators have been allowed to shut down the POTS networks? How does the STUK Finland recommendation protect these children (any more)? Please, see my story about the Nordic Health Disaster.

Good to know: Our cells in our body use minimal currents (=electricity) for communication and regeneration. All this is dependant on Earth's magnetic field and Schumann resonances.  Mobile phones, base stations, electrical devices and power grid induce much stronger currents to our body. Additionally, some of these devices work at the same frequencies as our brain waves. Microwave radiation is more effective (damaging) than ELF (powerline) radiation. The following (rough) picture by Neil Cherry describes these microwave effects versus official ICNIRP radiation guidance levels. No wonder people (and especially children) get sick :-(

Russian researchers have known these biological effects for decades [1, 2 ,3 ], therefore the official warning of Russia is worth reading (included in my previous posting). The current, acute heat-shock focused ICNIRP radiation guidance levels [1, 2, 3] in most western European countries do not protect population from continuous, chronic exposure. 

I welcome you to read the following paper from Neil Cherry:

Evidence that Electromagnetic Radiation is Genotoxic -  PDF 1 Mb

This paper nicely explains those biological mechanisms and it was presented in the European Parliament in 2000 and extended in 2002.

European Parliament announced a warning in September 2008 in it's Mid-Term Review. Please, check chapters 21-23. European Environmental Agency (EEA) has cleverly indicated these risks in 2001 in their book 'Late lessons from early warnings' . BioInitiative Report contains thousands of EMF&Health Risks -related references. What a pity that European Commission is so heavily influenced by industry that fast actions have not followed (yet) :-(

To understand all this, I recommend the book 'Cross Currents'. Dr Robert O. Becker showed in his pioneering work of how regeneration and healing takes place in our body. And how this is all dependent of electromagnetic forces. Becker was twice nominated for the Nobel prize in medicine.

Did I manage to describe a radical innovation? Is this a paradigm shift ala Kuhn? Any comments about the STUK-Finland announcement?

Nordic Health Disaster - Any chance to avoid it?

Teleoperators (carriers) in Nordic countries (Finland and Sweden) are allowed to shut down landlines and (A)DSL-connections in the countryside. This means that even little children in the countryside are forced to use a) mobile phone and b) wireless Internet connection.

As you probably know, countries in the North are quite...large. So, the distance to the closest base station may be several kilometers. A mobile phone increases it's power extensively, far from a base station. This is already a documented health risk [1],[2],[3],[4]. Additionally, the operators are solving bandwidth problems by adding many overlapping technologies (like UMTS-900, @450, WiMAX). Where is the pure Nordic nature when air is packed with microwave pulses?

Update 4th February 2010: I called on Tuesday, 27th May 2008 the state secretary Mr Aleksi Randell, because he worked as an assistant of Minister of Transport and Communication(LVM, T&C), Mrs Suvi Lindén. I told him, that they are causing a serious health risk to children in the countryside by shutting down the landlines and forcing children to use A) mobile phones B) mobile GPRS/3G/@450-modems in bad signal situations. Next day I sent Randell more information based on his request. So, minister Suvi Lindén was informed about their unhealthy decisions. Even before that, professor Osmo Hänninen had contacted the LVM and tried to inform those rather ignorant ministers and state secretaries.

In October 2008 the Ministry of Transport and Communication (LVM, T&C), Finland, requested comments to their broadband (laajakaista) plan. I provided them a reply (PDF).

I looked at:

1. Health risks of mobile phones
2. Effects of base stations on plants, insects and animals
3. Effects of base stations on human beings

(The plan is in Finnish, but the references starting at page 2 might be interesting?!?)

In Finland, the government (under pressure) has planned to provide fiber optics network to the whole country by the year 2015.  Well, 7 years is a long time for a child to make mobile phone calls with bad reception / limited coverage :-(  So, in my proposal I suggested that the fiber optics network should be built first, already in 2009.

According to the original plan of T&C, by the year 2010 the Finnish government tries to cover the whole country with multiple, overlapping wireless networks (@450, UMTS-900, WiMAX). Similar plan is in Sweden. I suggested that they would look closely at health risk in wireless technologies before implementing that plan. Update 16th December 2008: An Overview on Base Stations and Health Risks. 

This is also an equality question: which families with children want to live in the countryside any more? (Please, check my previous posting about children and their specific risks).

Afterword: While governments own shares of teleoperators, can those T&C ministers really make informed decisions? Update 23rd November 2008: These politicians are effectively misled .

Finland and Sweden have lot to learn from Norway [1],[2], [3],[4],[5]. Currently in Norway, there is a lot of discussion about health risks of mobile phones and ICNIRP guidance levels for base stations. In Finland and Sweden, there is hardly any discussion at all! Any idea, what might be the reason :-\ Please, check those Norwegian links!

Every comment is welcome!