EMR CANCER STUDIES OF WORKERS:
Compelling Evidence A 1988 study by Preston-Martin and Peters found that electric welders developed leukemia 25 TIMES more often than non-welders. * In a l991 study by PA Demers, published in the, American Journal of Epidemiology, electrical workers were found to be 6 times as likely to develop breast cancer as the general population.* A John Hopkins University study found that the incidence of leukemia among telephone cable workers was 7 times greater than among other telephone company employees.* Many other studies of electrical workers with increased cancer rates are listed in THE EMF BOOK, by Mark Pinsky.
EMR CANCER STUDIES ON CHILDREN
More Compelling Evidence
One of the earliest studies of human health effects of EMR was conducted in the Greater Denver, Colorado area by epidemiologist Nancy Wertheimer and physicist Ed Leeper. Using data on children who had died of cancer before age 19 between l960 and 1979, this study found increased risks among children who resided in homes close to heavy duty electrical distribution lines.
Dr. David Carpenter, Dean at the School of Public Health, State University of New York says: " This [EMF's] is really harming people, the association between residential exposure (to EMF's) and cancer is in my judgment, strong and growing stronger. I believe that 30% of all childhood cancers are associated with EMF exposure... it is likely that 10% to 15% of all childhood cancers come from exposure to residential power lines".
In 1988, Dr. David Savitz set out to disprove the results of the earlier Denver study using a different group of children. Instead, his findings were nearly identical with the first study; indicating elevated risk for all cancers among children living in homes near power lines with magnetic fields at or above 2 milligauss (mg). A milligauss is a unit of measurement for EMR.
Irrefutable evidence that EMR promotes cancer was found in the l993 Swedish Study by Maria Feychting and Anders Ahlbom. This study clearly established a dose/ response relationship. That is the more EMR you are exposed to, the greater your risk in developing cancer. This study was conducted on everyone in Sweden under the age of 16 years who lived within 300 meters of a power line between l960 and 1985. --Those children who lived furthest away from the power line and were outside its radiation showed no increased risk of leukemia. --Those children who lived nearer the power line with an exposure of 2 milligauss were 2.7 times more likely to have leukemia. --Those who lived closer still to the power line in a 3 milligauss field were 3.8 times as likely to develop leukemia. --Many other studies that show a relationship between EMR and cancer are listed in 'THE EMF BOOK" by Mark Pinsky
These startling findings indicate that children are especially vulnerable to EMR's health destroying effects.
The US. Environmental Protection Agency warns "there is reason for concern" and advises "prudent avoidance". Martin Halper, the EPA's Director of Analysis and Support goes even further. "I have never seen a set of epidemiological studies that remotely approached the weight of evidence that we're seeing with ELF [extremely low frequency] electromagnetic fields. Clearly there is something here".
Dozens of studies published in respected scientific journals from around the world have shown a link between EMR and cancer. In 1990 ; in response to public pressure, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended that magnetic fields be classified as a "Class B" carcinogen. This category is for "probable human carcinogens, " and included formaldehyde, DDT, dioxins, and PCBs. Due to intense pressure from the electrical industry, the EPA was forced to back down and the reference to class "B" carcinogens was deleted. This did not change the evidence that EMR promotes cancer. What it did show was the ability of the electrical industry to influence a government body. Regulatory authority in the United States over EMR has been taken away from the EPA and given to the Department of Energy. It appears that instead of Medical Doctors protecting our health, we now have engineers.
This article is not all bad news, the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, (NIEHS), recently decided that extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields should be regarded as possible human carcinogens. No doubt there will be an effort by the spin doctors to make this announcement impossible for the public to understand. Make no mistake this is a significant announcement from a prominent government health agency. My hope is that there will be a public outcry to force Health Canada to create regulations. For now they rely more on the electrical industry's PR departments than upon truly independent or government research. Canadians will become informed of EMR hazards if the media becomes much more critical of the information released by the electrical industry's PR departments.
To counteract the studies that show a association between EMR and disease our health authorities and electrical industry have produced lots of industry funded studies which indicate EMR is not a hazard.. Thus, they can say that since we have no consensus, we should do nothing. Because of their corporatist ideology it is impossible for them to comprehend that these studies are biased This narrow perspective, if it prevails, will have devastating consequences on our health. Paul Brodeur, author of several books exposing the hazards of EMR, says: "Disease does not develop by consensus but by the immutable laws of biology". Obviously, we do not need definitive proof to take precautions. We do not know how asbestos causes cancer but we would be crazy to go near the stuff. This is only common sense. However, in a corporatist construct of reality common sense does not exist. To use common sense would be irrational, to take precautions illogical.
Only the facts preordained by the high priests of the industry are allowed to be considered. Any scientist to consider evidence outside of legitimate industry funded expert sources would be practicing voodoo science. In the old days he would be burned at the stake or have his head cut off, today a character assassination is all that is usually necessary to keep him and his colleagues from straying from the fold. The question that we Canadians are faced with is how can we get democratic control over Health Canada and protect ourselves against the interests of massive corporations?
The answer is we have to take responsibility for our health and safety into our own hands. We have to take action and fight for our rights. For a start we can join the thousands of citizens world wide that reject electromagnetic technology that has been shown to be hazardous. Since May in the Victoria area four different communities have repelled four separate attempts to place Microwave Cellular Phone Towers in their neighbourhoods. All cited health concerns as a major reason. This is a blow to the ideology of corporatism and a great victory for democracy!
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation in their 1996 study on EMR in residences stated "exposure to these fields has now been linked to increased risk of diseases, including cancers such as childhood leukemia".
While our health authorities procrastinate on making meaningful regulations, there are many things we can do to protect ourselves. We can have our homes and workplaces tested for EM Radiation and wiring errors repaired. We can practice Prudent Avoidance of EMR as advocated by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This basically involves identifying the sources of EMR around us and developing strategies to eliminate or avoid them. We can contact our Members of Parliament and demand that they put pressure on Health Canada to implement regulations. We can ensure that our children's schools purchase computer equipment that emit EMR below the level that has been shown to promote cancer. We can organize our communities to resist any efforts to place microwave cellular phone towers near us and our children.
Above all, we have to educate ourselves to understand the health threats of EMR.
