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The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) today sent out a press release with the above claim.
They say they have reviewed over 800 studies.
However the studies number in the 100,000’s so it would be interesting to see the whole analysis and why they chose these particular studies and who funded them.
With the government advisory body the Stakeholder Advisory Group on ELF-EMFs (SAGE) about to release its second interim report could the IET press release be a smokescreen to offset any ‘bad’ news?
The SAGE group found that exposure to magnetic fields from sources such as powerlines above 0.04 microTesla leads to doubling of the risk of childhood leukaemia.
The UK follows the ICNIRP guidelines who have set the limit at 100 microT.
Members of the SAGE committee want to limit building houses within 100m of a powerline. However this would be expensive for the industry.
Prof Denis Henshaw of the radiation Effects Group at Bristol University[i][1] and a member of the SAGE committee says: “The IET continues to provide extremely poor advice on the health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMF’S). In the case of Powelines adverse health effects are well known and well documented as are the underlying ways in which EMF’s can adversely effect health”
Mobile phones and brain tumours
On May 18th the industry funded study on the risk of brain tumours was released. Despite its many flaws leading to an underestimation of risk, the evidence still showed a 40% increase in risk of glioma after 10 years use of ½ hour per day. [2]
Other research by a team in Sweden has showed a marked increased risk of 5 times for children after 10 years use. [3]
Dr Andrew Goldsworthy, Hon lecturer in Biology at Imperial College is puzzled by the IET conclusions. He says: “But we know that cells in the body react to electrical currents. When you apply an alternating electrical current across cell membranes they vibrate and can literally be broken up by a strong field such as that emitted from mobile phones. This can release enzymes normally locked up within each cell that can damage its DNA. There are many studies showing double strand DNA breaks from radiation emitted from mobile phone signals. The European REFLEX study was one such.
A practical application of this can be seen in a new technique used for treating cancer. Recent research by Dr Yoram Palti, shortly to be published, has found that the damage done to the DNA of dividing cells by electromagnetic radiation of the same strength as that emitted from a mobile phone is so great as to be equivalent or better than that of ionising radiation from radiotherapy (
http://tinyurl.com/38rv2tw ). Dividing cells are more sensitive to DNA and chromosome damage than other cells because, when the cell divides, fragments of broken chromosomes (which contain the DNA) can be lost so that the daughter cells are genetically incomplete and die. This is why ionising radiation can cure cancer.
However, less serious DNA damage from lower doses of either ionising or non-ionising radiation can result in hitherto healthy cells becoming cancerous in later life. The rapidly dividing cells of the foetus and growing children may be particularly at risk. What can cure can also kill.”
Mast Sanity calls upon the government to stop listening to the industry and look to public protection.
The French government on 11th May voted to ban the use of mobile phones by children in schools and put warning labels against excessive use on mobile phones. [4]
The Mast Sanity Press Office can now be contacted on 0844 443 5750.
www.mastsanity.org
Registered UK Charity no. 1109757
Calling for Environmentally and Biologically safe communications networks and radio frequency devices
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