October 18th, 1998

Fouling Our Nest - Electromagnetically
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

If we pretend,
that we are in the center,
that moles and kingfishers,
eels and coyotes
are at the edge of grace,
then we circle, dead moons
about a cold sun.
-- Joseph Bruchac

Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year, every being on planet Earth, except the creatures who live deep beneath the ground, are bathed in what may be discovered one day to be the most pervasive - and least officially acknowledged - environmental health problem of our time. The sources of this contaminant are increasing every day and are part of a multi-billion dollar global industry that is showing no sign of slowing.

(Photo (c) J.A. Giuliano 1998)

The human race has never before in its evolutionary history been exposed to such an abundance of electromagnetic (EM) fields - generated by electrical devices, radio transmitters, and some natural sources - on a continuous basis. Because the stakes are so high, the government, the military and industry, have conducted a pervasive, systematic, and comprehensive program of denying any health effects from these fields.

In June of 1997, the results of a study by the National Cancer Institute claimed there was no association between power lines and childhood leukemia. This story was widely reported throughout the country as the definitive word, finally putting the issue to rest, reported on Page 1 of newspapers across the nation.

Critics, however, charge that this study was narrowly designed and ignored many factors. Many researchers are associating our soaring cancer rates, malfunctioning immune systems, and overall poor health with our constant exposure to low level EM fields.

Cellular phone radiation profile on a skull (Image from the EM Software Systems web site http://www.emss.co.za/emssrh.htm)

Research abounds demonstrating the connections. Cellular phones were attached to the heads of 10 volunteers in June 1998 at the University Neurology Clinic in Freiburg, Germany. Researchers used remote switches to turn the phones on and off without the subjects’ knowledge. They report the subjects’ blood pressures rose 5 to 10 mm of mercury when the phones were on, then dropped back to normal when they were turned off. This could be disastrous in people suffering from chronic hypertension.

This story was reported by the L.A. Times, but it was buried in the "Home" section.

Microwave News claims that in 1994, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suppressed a report written by its own staff that claimed "the apparently real association of disease with...prolonged magnetic field exposure has been established, so that it must be considered as one risk factor for [cancer]."

In shocking studies done in 1994 in Los Angeles and Finland and repeated in Los Angeles in 1996, a high incidence of Alzheimer's disease was found among workers exposed to high EM fields daily due to their occupations. The 1996 study looked at 326 Alzheimer's patients over 65 hospitalized at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Los Angeles and compared them to 152 non-Alzheimer's patients at the same center. Findings showed that males with Alzheimer's were 4.9 times as likely to have had a high occupational exposure to EM fields and females were 3.4 times as likely. The occupation most common among the Alzheimer's patients was sewing machine workers.

Another study released in early 1998 found an increase in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders in workers in electrical occupations - broadcast equipment operators, industrial equipment repairers, data processing equipment repairers, telephone line installers, power plant operators, and motion picture projectionists.

All pagers and cellular phones rely on a continuous stream of EM radiation, some from satellites in Earth orbit. Remember that your pager beeps because your particular code was activated in an otherwise steady and constant bath of radiation. No one sent a pinpoint beam to your waist. We all, in a sense, get radiation from everyone's cell phone and pager.

Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) may become the electronic secondhand smoke issue of the next millennium. Many lawsuits are in progress against cellular phone companies by individuals who claim that their brain cancer resulted from heavy cellular phone use. Research cannot substantiate this because virtually all the research done on radio and microwave radiation effects was conducted at the 2,450 megahertz frequency used by microwave ovens, not at the 837 megahertz frequency of U.S. cellular phones.

Tri Field EM Meter

Every cellular phone I have ever measured makes my EM radiation meter needle go off the scale at a distance of three to five feet from the phone.

Scientific research will not provide a definitive resolution to this dilemma. It has been proven time and time again that researchers are virtually guaranteed of finding results that fit within their expectations. Scientists make a fundamental error in logic by assuming that data is somehow pure and unbiased. This is never the case. For example, many of the EM studies use the cause of death as listed on official death certificates as their basis for study. But if exposure to EM fields also causes chronic immune system dysfunction as many researchers think, then the cause of death listed will not give the whole picture.

School children may be particularly at risk. Many schools across the nation are built on cheap land leased from local power companies - directly under huge power lines and transformers.

We don't have to wait for someone else's idea of proof before we act. We can all do some simple things to protect our health and pressure our elected officials to keep investigating. The next time you take a vacation, consider a retreat center that has no electricity! You will feel the difference and you will never again need a scientific study to tell you what is best.

No other animal fouls their nest - why should we?

RESOURCES

1. Visit Microwave News for some interesting data about the EM threat at http://www.microwavenews.com/2-98story2.html and a copy of the EPA's suppressed report on EM fields and cancer.

2. Visit a comprehensive website by a mother concerned with cellular phone towers placed at her childrens' school. She has done extensive research. http://www.wwnet.net/~babbles/

3. Read the thoughts of people trying to get away from EM fields at http://members.aol.com/health4vt/ 4. Visit EMF link for much information at http://infoventures.microserve.com/emf/

5. EMF link has a comprehensive set of internet links at http://www.microwavenews.com/www.html

6. Get an EM field meter from http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html

7. Limit cellular phone calls. In fact, consider not having one! Get a hands free attachment that puts the phone away from your head. You can get a cellular phone EM shield at http://www.lessemf.com/cellphon.html

8. An excellent set of information and tips to protect yourself can be found at http://www.lessemf.com/emf-news.html

9. A good primer on the subject from the Alexander Law Firm can be found at http://consumerlawpage.com/brochure/emf.shtml

10. If you sit in front of a computer, you should consider shielding. A glare filter WILL NOT reduce the radiation coming from the monitor tube or decrease the magnetic field. Don't think that a smaller monitor is necessarily safer. My wife's tiny 13-inch monitor bathes her in three times as strong a magnetic field as my 20-inch monitor at normal viewing distance! Visit the NO-RAD Corporation at http://www.noradcorp.com/products.htm for protection. Their ELF Pro Tech is a must for reducing magnetic field strength.

11. Do not sleep under an electric blanket! Some health practitioners feel the EM fields from the blanket are hazardous. TIP: use the blanket to preheat your bed, then unplug it and get in.

12. Learn about some of the bias in EM field research at http://www.infoventures.microserve.com/emf/currlit/bu12466.html

13. Visit the Children's Health Environmental Coalition at http://www.checnet.org/chec/

14. See links to scholarly articles on the connection between cancer and EM fields at http://www.infoventures.microserve.com/emf/topics/cancr.html

15. View ongoing studies by the National Cancer Institute at http://www-dceg.ims.nci.nih.gov/ebp/reb/emf.html

16. An interesting article on the connection between childhood cancer and power lines can be found at http://www.fplc.edu/RISK/vol5/winter/abt.htm

17. Keep your eye on corporations through Corporate Watch at http://www.corpwatch.org/

18. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them about your issue. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html or you can search by state at http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html

19. Learn about the issues. Seek out books on the subject. A good source for used (and new) books is Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon at http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/associate?assoc_id=212 where you will find a wonderful alternative to the massive chain bookstores taking over the market.

20. Visit the Healing Our World article archive and check out the many activist links in past articles. You can find it under Features at the Environment News Service (ENS) website http://ens-news.com

21. The Alzheimer's study data came from the December 1996 issue of Neurology. The article is by Sobel, et. al. and is titled "Elevated risk of Alzheimer's disease among workers with likely electromagnetic field exposure."

22. The information on occupations associated with increased neurological disorders from EM exposure came from the January/February 1998 issue of the Archives of Environmental Health. The authors are Savitz, Loomis, and Tse. The title is "Electrical occupations and neurodegenerative disease: analysis of U.S. mortality data."