From Bob Park's What's New
1. POWER-LINES: THERE ARE NO HEALTH EFFECTS -- AND THAT'S THAT!
The corpse can be expected to twitch from time to time, but the 17-year controversy over residential electromagnetic fields has been pronounced dead. An expert panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that "the current body of evidence does not show that exposure to these fields presents a human health hazard." The APS reached the same conclusion 18 months ago (WN 5 May 95). The Academy study found "no conclusive and consistent evidence that exposures to residential electric and magnetic fields produce cancer, adverse neurobehavioral effects, or reproductive and developmental effects." The 3-year study was funded by DOE, which had been designated by Congress as the lead agency for EMF research. In compliance with the "Full Employment of Scientists Act," the panel issued the obligatory call for more research--but not into EMF. There must be other factors that produce a tiny excess of childhood leukemia near power lines. At a press conference yesterday, a reporter asked whether the panel recommended "prudent avoidance." The chair, Charles Stevens, a neurobiologist, replied that "we wouldn't know what to suggest people avoid." Since the proximity to power lines is greatest in congested, low-income areas, it would be best to avoid poverty.
2. APS ADOPTS STATEMENT ON "POWER LINE FIELDS AND PUBLIC HEALTH"!
The Council of the American Physical Society, by a vote of 29-1, declared that purported health effects of power line fields have not been scientifically substantiated, and the cost of mitigation and litigation "is incommensurate with the risk, if any." Since EMF was first linked to cancer in 1979, epidemiological evidence has grown ever fainter and proposed mechanisms more speculative. The Council action, taken at its 22 April meeting, was a result of several years of discussion and monitoring of the issue by the APS Panel on Public Affairs, and was endorsed by the leaders of the Biophysics Division of the Society. This is the strongest position on the EMF issue taken by a major scientific society.
2. EMF: THEY SAY IT'S NOT OVER TILL IT'S OVER WELL, IT'S OVER.
The results of a long-awaited Canadian epidemiological study of childhood leukemia were released today. The massive study, covering five Canadian provinces, matched 400 children under 14, diagnosed with leukemia, with 400 controls. Exposure assessments included 48-hour personal EMF monitoring, as well as measurements in the children's residences and 24-hour bedroom measurement. The conclusion was that exposure to magnetic fields was not related to the risk of leukemia. This agrees with the monumental NCI study released two years ago (WN 4 Jul 97). Nevertheless, a group convened by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, many of whom had staked their reputations on an EMF- cancer connection, voted last fall to label EMF "a possible carcinogen" (WN 2 Oct 98), which led the APS to reaffirm its position that there is no evidence of a cancer-EMF link.
1. CELL PHONES AND CANCER: DOES THIS STORY SOUND FAMILIAR?
It should, it features many of the same players who brought you the power line controversy. It began on Jan 23, 1993; a guest on Larry King Live, whose wife had died of brain cancer, was suing the cell-phone industry, claiming her cancer was caused by a cell phone: "She held it against her head, and she talked on it all the time," he said (WN 29 Jan 93). With such "evidence," story after story in the media focused on the cancer question. At that time, people still thought power lines caused cancer. The power line controversy was not put to rest until the National Cancer Institute released a definitive epidemiological study of the connection between childhood cancer and residential EMF exposure. Any link, the study concluded, is too weak to detect or to be concerned about. This week, two major studies of cell phone use and cancer were published, one by an industry group and one by the National Cancer Institute. Both concluded that cell phone users are no more likely than anyone else to have brain cancer.
Links:
http://infoventures.com/emf/curr-res/cr-spons.html
In his book, Voodoo Science, Park devotes an entire chapter to EMF. (pg 140-161) The original concern was begun by a disgustingly shoddy study done in Denver, Colorado in 1979 by Nancy Wertheimer an unemployed epidemiologist. No study has been able to show what she had claimed. In fact, the studies have failed to show a link between EMF and the illnesses claimed.
I need some information about Bau Biology. Our firm is thinking about hiring a "Certified Building Biology Environmental Inspector" as a speaker. Researching the "Institute for Bau-Biology" (the correspondance school that supposedly certifies these inspectors), I find myself with doubts that this is a legit place. They talk about a "board of directors" but don't list them, and it seems their main purpose is to sell courses and EMF meters. I also find myself with doubts about the whole EMF thing - is it really harmful? Or is it just a scam to scare people and make money?
If anyone knows anything about these people, please share. Also, if anyone can help me become educated about EMF I'd appreciate it.
