The Pro-GM science lobby group "Sense About Science" ^[1]  has just announced a new leaflet "Making Sense of Radiation" ^[2] - it appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to the recent Press coverage of the ground-breaking conference ^[3] held in London attended by both sides in the debate over Microwave Radiation and its health effects.

The leaflet makes sweeping claims that can not be substantiated such as "the Draper study published in 2005, found a relationship between the chances of developing leukaemia and the distance a person lived from power lines in the UK,...This does not show, however, that the pylons are causing cancer. ... The increased risk may be because the children shared some other risk factor for leukaemia perhaps due to exposure to some other environmental conditions or carcinogens. "^[17], "but there is no evidence that RF radiation causes harmful non-thermal effects" ^[4] or "Non-ionising radiation does not have enough energy to damage or kill the cell, and so cannot cause cancer"

[new - Read Powerwatch critique of the Sense About Science leaflet here ]

Trustee Yasmin Skelt said "We at Mast Sanity believe that it is a measure of Sheer desperation on the part of the Mobile Phone Industry lobby that they have resorted to such dis-information , and clearly demonstates that they are on the run^[16] The tide of Scientific studies  is so overwhelming now,  showing health effects at emission levels far below the limits currently applied in the UK."

"It is well documented that this is exactly what the tobacco industry did over the safety of tobacco and the oil industry did over global warming. The methods are the same. 'Doubt' is their product."

"However the evidence speaks for itself. Many scientists and indeed countries are now acting to issue health warnings concerning dangerous exposure to radiation emitted from mobile/wireless devices. Earlier this year 5 countries have issued warnings to their citizens of varying strengths particularly warning to restrict mobile phone use in children." ^[10-15]

The European Parliament is concerned about the health effects from this technology and has gone on record as such in September 2008 "[The European Parliament ] Is greatly concerned at the Bio-Initiative international report(8) concerning electromagnetic fields, which summarises over 1500 studies on that topic and which points in its conclusions to the health risks posed by emissions from mobile-telephony devices".

Many eminent scientists in Europe^[8] and beyond, most of whom have done original, published, peer-reviewed research in this field of Electromagnetic radiation as part of the International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety (ICEMS) have signed the Venice Resolution^[7] stating: "We take exception to the claim of the wireless communication industry that there is no credible scientific evidence to conclude there is a risk. Recent epidemiological evidence is stronger than before, which is a further reason to justify precautions to be taken to lower exposure standards in accordance with the Precautionary Principle"

Instead of taking positive action the UK Government is further cosying up to the Mobile Phone Industry by Prime Minister Brown appointing the Vodafone chairman as his "business ambassador" ^[9] .

Mast Sanity, on the other hand, is completely independent. We do not sell anything, we do not gain commissions, nor do we endorse any products or treatments. We do, however, in order to provide practical help to people, provide links to sources of information about shielding and interventions which some people may find useful.

Mast Sanity is the largest group in the country campaigning for the safe siting of masts and has links with related groups globally.

Notes and References:

[1] Who are Sense about Science? - Sense about Science is a pro industry front group that supports various

Technologies such as GM, nuclear, phone masts and WiFi, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, etc.

There is a web of such organisations all linked together and bizarrely run by ex-members of the Revolutionary Communist Party. These organisations include, the Science Media Centre (director: Fiona Fox), Sense About Science (director: Tracey Brown; her assistant: Ellen Raphael), Genetic Interest Group (policy director: John Gillott), the Institute of Ideas, IoI, (director Claire Fox, sister of Fiona Fox) IoI operates out of LM 's old offices in Smithfield in London. LM, in turn, was a reincarnation of Living Marxism, the monthly review of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). Both Fox and Guldberg were leading members of the RCP. They both started the online paper 'Spiked'.

See -

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2003/12/09/invasion-of-the-entryists/

http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=151

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sense_About_Science

Whilst Sense About Science does not state that its funding is received from the Mobile Phone industry, its sister organisation, the Science Media Centre receives funds from:

* Mobile Operators Association (MOA)

* Vodafone Group

* Wi-Fi Alliance

http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/pages/about/funding.htm

[2] Making Sense of radiation - http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/project/256/

Making Sense of Radiation

Scientists, engineers and medical professionals are to launch the first stage of an attempt to counter public misinformation about radiation and health effects. They say that the public discussion is a confusing mess, with people left struggling to weigh up which claims to take seriously. Many people have become anxious about exposure to non-ionising forms of radiation, from mobiles, Wi-Fi and masts. The scientists also fear that people are now being encouraged to spend their money on all manner of unnecessary products that claim to protect from EMFs.

The scientists, working with Sense About Science1, have identified some of the tools and insights that they themselves rely on, in the hope it might help to deliver to the public a clearer picture of what radiation is, what it does and what it can't do. The guide published today, Making Sense of Radiation2, offers some familiarisation with the areas of discussion and controversy, and helps people to question things they've heard or read about radiation.

In summary it says:

•           Speculative stories about health risks and RF radiation often go uncorrected, leaving a trail of confusion that prevents public discussion and policy from moving forward.

•           To counter this they wanted to share some insights, like the fact that different types of radiation exist, that ‘cancer clusters' are unusual and that by picturing what radiation is like you see that the ‘electrosmog' metaphor is misleading.

•           Current research does not show that EMFs from mobile phones, masts and Wi-Fi cause harmful effects.

•           The scientists had a look at a range of products claiming to protect us from EMFs and concluded that they exploited people's fears, were unnecessary and generally did not do what they promised.

[3] RRT Conference - http://www.mastsanity.org and  http://powerwatch.org.uk/news/20080917_rrt_conference.asp

[4] The BioInitiative Report 2007 - multiple references to studies showing harmful non-heating effects - http://www.hese-project.org/hese-uk/en/niemr/news.php?id=bioinitiative

[5] Childhood Leukemia - http://powerwatch.org.uk/health/leukaemia.asp

[6] Texts adopted by European Parliament - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2008-0410+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN -  - Thursday, 4 September 2008 - Brussel

Mid-term review of the European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010

- Resolution (extract) -

21.  Is greatly concerned at the Bio-Initiative international report(8) concerning electromagnetic fields, which summarises over 1500 studies on that topic and which points in its conclusions to the health risks posed by

emissions from mobile-telephony devices such as mobile telephones, UMTS, Wifi, Wimax and Bluetooth, and also DECT landline telephones;

22.  Notes that the limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields which have been set for the general public are obsolete, since they have not been adjusted in the wake of Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC of 12 July 1999

on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields (0Hz to 30 GHz)(9) , obviously take no account of developments in information and communication technologies, of the recommendations issued by

the European Environment Agency or of the stricter emission standards adopted, for example, by Belgium, Italy and Austria, and do not address the issue of vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, newborn babies and children;

23.   Calls, consequently, upon the Council to amend its Recommendation 1999/519/EC in order to take into account the Member States' best practices and thus to set stricter exposure limits for all equipment which emits electromagnetic waves in the frequencies between 0.1 MHz and 300 GHz;

See also - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/briefing_page/33692-245-09-36-20080708BRI33691-01-09-2008-2008/default_p001c010_de.htm and http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/briefing_page/33692-245-09-36-20080708BRI33691-01-09-2008-2008/default_p001c023_en.htm

[7] The Venice Resolution - http://radiationresearch.org/6th_ICEMS_Workshop_Venice_Resolution_6June2008rev.pdf

[8] French Health Ministry issues a warning against excessive mobile phone use, especially by children - http://www.brain-surgery.us/FrenchHM2008.pdf and warning from 20 french cancer specialists in June this year - http://www.truthout.org/article/twenty-appeal-against-cell-phone  

These 20 scientists, mostly oncologists, believe the risk is too great to be incurred. "We're in the same situation today as we were 50 years ago with asbestos and tobacco," notes Thierry Bouillet, oncologist at the Avicenne de Bobigny Hospital and a signatory to the appeal.

[9] Brown's reshuffle - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7650106.stm - "Sir John Bond, the chairman of Vodafone, has been appointed a business ambassador as part of the shake-up."

[10] Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens: health agency, July 12, 2008 -
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/12/cellphones-kids.html
Toronto's department of public health is advising teenagers and young children to limit their use of cellphones to avoid potential health risks. The advisory ‹ believed to be the first of its kind in Canada ‹ warns that because of possible side effects from radio frequencies, children under eight should only use a cellphone in emergencies and teenagers should limit calls to less than 10 minutes.
See Also http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-13559.pdf and

http://healthzone.ca/health/article/459099

[11] Pittsburg Cancer Institute Warning - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08205/898803-114.stm
The Director of the Pittsburg Cancer Institute issued a warning to his 3000 staff: ""Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including
cancer," Dr. Ronald Herberman said in the memorandum. "

Also http://www.brain-surgery.us/UPitt.pdf and http://cbs3.com/health/cell.phones.tips.2.778623.html

[12] Progressive Librarians Guild (USA) (June 2008) precaution to ban wifi - http://libr.org/plg/wifiresolution.php

[13] Israel Ministry of Environment warning - July 2008 - http://www.brain-surgery.us/IsraelMinEnv.pdf

[14] INDIA : India policy to ban masts near schools - http://www.brain-surgery.us/India2008.pdf and
Mobile towers banned in school, hospital premises 11 Jun, 2008 -http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Mobile_towers_banned_in_school_hospital_premises/articleshow/3118335.cms

[15] Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection:- CHILDREN AND MOBILE PHONES:

THE HEALTH OF THE FOLLOWING GENERATIONS IS IN DANGER -  http://www.emfacts.com/papers/rncnirp_children.pdf and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18380333

More details on Russia: Both the statement, and even more so the paper, make it clear that the authors are in no doubt that there IS a problem (not just maybe) - the abstract at the top of the paper leaves no question about that. Their central issue is how to reduce the risk that they are certain is there.

Bearing in mind that this is the official government body for the second greatest superpower in the world with a knowledge of microwaves second to none (they were using microwave weapons in the Cold War), they know what
they are talking about.

[16] BBC One Show - Are mobiles safe? ­- http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/onepassions/2008/10/are-mobile-phones-safe.html#dnaacs - See the comments since they are more sensible than the show itself.

[17] We find this strange since magnetic fields have already been classified as a class 2B human carcinogen by the IARC and endorsed by the WHO based on "consistent statistical associations of high-level residential magnetic fields with a doubling of the risk of childhood leukemia." - http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/crthgr02b.php

Related Press Links

Today Programme 6th October 2008 06:55 BST - 'Effect of electro-smog is dire' -  http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7654000/7654876.stm- Michael Bevington gave as good as he got from Elaine Fox (Essex Study) on this radio programme, if you're interested.

"Pressure groups are scaremongering about the effects of mobile masts and wi-fi on health, the charity Sense about Science says. Elaine Fox, a psychologist from Essex University who helped with Sense's research, and Michael Bevington, of the the charity Electro Sensitivity UK, discuss whether there is any evidence that these devices cause harm"

Daily Mail 6th October 2008 - Firms 'exploit fears' over mobile radiation risk, says report - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1069534/Firms-exploit-fears-mobile-radiation-risk-says-report.html#

Guardian On-line 6th October 2008 - Our radiation fears are being exploited, charity warns - http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/oct/06/radiation.fears