How wireless technology may impact child development

and central nervous system functioning. 

Children and mobile phone use: Is there a health risk? The case for extra precautions: Don Maisch, EMFacts Consultancy

Worldwide, children and young people are the fastest growing group of mobile phone users. This growth is actively encouraged by professional advertising campaigns from the mobile phone industry, extolling how indispensable the phones are to their life styles. The scientific community has sounded a clear warning that this trend can be detrimental to the health of our youth. As we await further research, the message is one of caution. Every parent must ask themselves, is it worth the risk?

Electrical Sensitivity: Arthur Firstenberg and Susan Molloy

The founder and director of the Cellular Phone Taskforce (Firstenberg) and cofounder of the Environmental Health Network (Molloy) provide a concise, referenced article on this emerging condition. (From Latitudes, Volume 5 #4) 

What Americans Need to Know about Radiation (or EMR) from Wireless Communications: Margaret Meade Glaser

The author contends that Europeons and Russians know more than Americans about this important issue—and she tells you where you can find the facts you need.

Consumer Reports on Cell Phone safety: February 2003 issue

One of the first mainstream publications to question cell phone safety. Read the article!

The Dark Side of Wireless Technology: Sheila Rogers, editor of Latitudes

A heartbreaking account of how a cell phone tower placed next to a family’s farm devastated the health of a Midwest family and their farm animals.

A Possible Association Between Fetal/neonatal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation and the Increased Incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Robert C. Kane, Ph.D, of  The Associated Bioelectromagnetics Technologists, Blanchardville, Wisconsin, presents a theory that developmental exposures to electromagnetic radiation may help explain the dramatic recent increase in autism.

A Physician Petition: the Freiburger Appeal

Doctors unite to express concern for health effects of mobile phone technology.

Children and mobile phone use: Is there a health risk?

The case for extra precautions.

By Don Maisch

EMFacts Consultancy

Feburary 2003

The paper "Mobile Phone Use: its time to take precautions", published in the April 2001 issue of the Journal of the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine by this author, examined what was known about the possible hazards of mobile phone use up to that date. (1) At first, this subject may not seem relevant to children's lives until it is realised that today the fastest growing group of mobile phone users are children and young people. This growth is actively encouraged by professional advertising campaigns from the mobile phone industry, extolling how indispensable the phones are to their life styles.

Case History: Walt Disney Co.

An unfortunate example of how youth are deliberately being targeted was investigated by the New York based technical newsletter Microwave News. In the May/June 2002 issue it was reported that in November 2005, just as ABC News was about to air a TV program expressing concern over the use of cell phones by children, the Walt Disney Co. announced that it would no longer allow its cartoon characters to be used to market mobile phones. ABC is a subsidiary of Disney.  A Disney spokesperson said at the time that the new policy would remain in effect "until there is reliable evidence establishing the absence of any [health] risks," and that "The well-being of our customers is our first priority." (2)

At first this seems like a responsible position by Disney but it was exposed as a sham in the July/August issue of Microwave News:

"Disney and Motorola are teaming up to tap the 6 -to- 12 year-old customer electronics market. They will roll out the first products -- a two-way radio and a 2.45 GHz cordless phone -- in the fall, with others to follow next year.  Motorola states that the walkie-talkies will have a range of up to two miles. And in late July, Disney announced that it is launching a service which will allow customers in Taiwan to download images of Mickey, Donald and Goofy onto their phone screens. In 2005, Disney pledged not to licence its characters for use on cell phones "until there is reliable evidence establishing the absence of any [health] risks." Disney recently reaffirmed this commitment to Microwave News."(3)

The only conclusion one can make here is that somehow, while all the scientists doing research on mobile phone health effects cannot yet come up with the goods on health risks, Disney has found "reliable evidence establishing the absence of any [health] risks". Fortunate news for Disney for now they can proceed with their new telecommunications venture, in partnership with the paragon of truly independent research, MOTOROLA.

This constitutes a serious conflict of interest if Motorola is providing ‘evidence of safety’ while at the same entering into a major capital venture with Disney.

To be fair to Disney, their executives would have only been provided with the opinions of Motorola about the safety of children using mobile phones and may be blissfully unaware that the science is not as black and white as they have been led to believe. Considering that Disney has a significant influence on many millions of children, the possibility of harm being inflicted on these children by their wireless products must be given serious consideration.

With the continuing worldwide mobile phone advertising blitz, produced by the same transnational public relations corporations that previously gave us such delightful cartoon characters as "Joe Camel" for the tobacco industry, no words of warning are heard. However, within the scientific community, there is a growing chorus of expert voices that are urging caution because if there are adverse health effects from mobile phone use, it will be the children who will be in the front line, and who may pay the highest price. For the sake of the future of our children's health we need to seriously heed these voices and limit children's unnecessary use of mobile phones.

Statements of concern from the scientific community:

1) In 1999, as a result of public concerns about possible health hazards from mobile phone technology, the UK Government formed the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) to examine possible effects of mobile phones and transmitter base stations. This group was headed by Sir William Stewart, the famous British biochemist and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. What made the Stewart Inquiry unique, was that it was made up almost entirely of biomedical specialists -- and so were able to focus many man-years of acquired specialist knowledge on the problem. 

Their report, Mobile Phones and Health, was released in April 2005. In regards to the use of mobile phones by children the IEGMP stated:

"If there are currently unrecognised adverse health effects from the use of mobile phones, children may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous system, the greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head and a longer lifetime of exposure. In line with our precautionary approach, we believe that the widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged. We also recommend that the mobile phone industry should refrain from promoting the use of mobile phones by children."(4)

Sir William said at a science conference at Glasgow University in September 2001 that mobile phone makers often presented their products in adverts as essential "back to school" items for children. Such adverts were irresponsible, said Sir William. He added: "They are irresponsible because children's skulls are not fully developed. They will be using mobile phones for longer, and their effects won't be known for some time to come. Mobile phone technology has been led by the physical sciences. My own view is we ought to be doing more work on the potential biological effects." (5)

In January of 2003 Professor Lawrie Challis, who replaced Sir William Stewart as chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications Health Research team (The Stewart Committee) re-stated the committee’s views on children and mobile phone use. In an interview with a UK paper, Prof Challis mentioned that he was worried by the level of mobile phone use among children. He said more needed to be done towards educating youngsters about limiting the time they spend on phones. (6)

2) Concerns about children using mobile phones was specifically mentioned in a recent report (July, 2002) by the Science and Public Policy Institute, based in Arlington, Virginia, USA. The institute was founded by Dr. George Carlo, who formerly ran the U.S. wireless industry’s $28 million research program into the possible health risks of cell phone use.

The report "Proposals for Supplementary Funding" states on page 4:

"Special concern for children followed from the research. Studies showed that radiation penetrated deeper into the heads of teenagers and children resulting in more exposure to potentially harmful radio waves than adults; the type of genetic damage that was found – micronuclei in human blood – is more likely to occur in growing tissue undergoing mitosis, such as growing brain tissue in children; the wireless industry had targeted children as a growth market and were succeeding in increasing cell phone usage among children and teenagers."

The report also recommends on page the "development of informational materials for children and their parents regarding the science and solutions that can be used in schools." (7)

3) On December 8th 2005, the German Academy of Paediatrics issued a statement-advising parents to restrict their children's use of mobile phones. They advised that all mobile phone users should keep conversations as brief as possible but that additional precautions are appropriate for children in view of "special health risks" associated with their growing bodies. (8)

4) On July 31, 2001, Wolfram Koenig, the new head of the "Bundesamt fur Strahlenschutz, which is the federal authority for radiation protection in Germany, stated in an interview in the "Berliner Morgenpost" that "Parents should take their children away from that technology [mobile phones]".  Mr Koenig, also a member of Germany's Greens party, said that "Some people are very sensitive to radiation." and urged companies not to target children in their advertising campaigns. (9)

5) Statement delivered at an Australian Senate Inquiry meeting in 2005: CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics chief, Gerry Haddad warned that the new telecommunications exposure standards being drafted neglected to take a high enough level of protection, particularly in relation to children. Mr. Haddad said, "Restrict use of mobile phones to children for essential purposes . . A precautionary principle would seem to be a good idea:". Dr. Haddad complained that the CSIRO’s view had been rejected in the formulation of new emission standards that stopped short of advising that children be restricted in their mobile phone use. (10)

6) A day after the release of a Danish mobile phone study titled "Cellular Telephones and Cancer – a Nationwide Cohort Study in Denmark, a panel of scientists in Denmark debated the findings and questioned the validity of the study conclusions.  Panel chairman Professor Albert Gjedde, a brain specialist also expressed concern that children could be more vulnerable, because their brain cells are still growing, and therefore EMF had the potential to lead to more serious brain damage than in adults. He advised extreme caution in accepting assurances of safety, and suggested Denmark should reduce children’s exposure to mobile phone emissions to a minimum. (11)

7) Statement from Olle Johansson, Assoc. Professor, The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute,  Sweden. (September , 2001).

"...Already in 1996, I started to warn in public of the effects on microwave irradiation on children through their use of mobile telephones. The debate has also very much focussed on the responsibility regarding ads and products directly aimed for children, and here in Sweden great alarm has been raised around the propositions to even develop and sell cellphones for the ages up to 5 years."(12)

8) Statement from Sianette Kwee, Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Aarhus, Denmark. (Member of the Editorial Board of Bioelectrochemistry. Danish expert representative in the European Union’s COST  281 project  "Potential health effects from Emerging Wireless Communication systems", Basic Research group.)

Fields of research:  Bioelectrochemistry : electroporation -  electrochemistry of biological systems,  Bioelectromagnetics: biological effects of environmental electromagnetic fields (extremely low frequency /ELF and microwave /MW), on cell growth in human amnion cells.

"Our studies showed that there was a significant change in cell growth in these cells after being exposed to EMF fields from both power lines (ELF) and from mobile phones (MW). These biological effects were greatest in young and vigorously growing cells, but much less in old cells. These results tell us, that e.g. microwave fields from mobile phones can be expected to affect children to a much greater degree than adults. (13)

9) Statement from Dr. Gerard Hyland of the University of Warwick, Coventry, England, and the International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss-Holzheim, Germany.  Excerpt (dealing specifically with children and mobile phone use) from his Report for the STOA Committee of the EU.

"The Increased Vulnerability of Pre-adolescent Children:

Pre-adolescent children can be expected to be (potentially) more at risk than are adults - as recognised in the Report of the UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (the Stewart Report) - for the following reasons:

*Absorption of microwaves of the frequency used in mobile telephony is greater (particularly at 900MHz) in an object about the size of a child's head - the so-called head resonance – than in an adult’s, whilst, in consequence of the thinner skull of a child, the penetration of the radiation into the brain is greater than in an adult.

*The still developing nervous system and associated brain-wave activity in a child (and particularly one that is epileptic) are more vulnerable to aggression by the pulses of microwaves used in GSM than is the case with a mature adult.  This is because the multi-frame repetition frequency of 8.34Hz and the 2Hz pulsing that characterises the signal from a phone equipped with the energy-saving discontinuous transmission (DTX) mode lie in the range of the alpha and delta brain wave activities, respectively.  The fact that these two particular electrical activities are constantly changing in a child until the age of about 12 years, when the delta-waves disappear and the alpha rhythm is finally stabilised, means that a child’s brain must be anticipated to be doubly vulnerable to interference from the GSM pulsing.

*The increased mitotic activity in the cells of developing children makes them more susceptible to genetic damage.

*A child's immune system, whose efficiency is, in any case, degraded by radiation of the kind used in mobile telephony, is generally less robust than is that of an adult, so that the child less able to cope with any adverse health effect provoked by (chronic) exposure to such radiation." (14)

10) Dr Hyland was also an advisor in a small unpublished Spanish study, examining  changes in brain activity after a child uses a mobile phone. The study, by Dr. Michael Klieeisen from the Neuro Diagnostic Research Institute in Marbella, Spain found that a single call lasting just two minutes can alter the natural electrical activity of a child’s brain for up to an hour afterwards. It was also found that the microwaves penetrated deep into the brain and not just around the ear.

The subjects were an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Using a CATEEN scanner, linked to a machine measuring brain wave activity, researchers were able to make photographic images of the changes in brain electrical activity.

In a newspaper interview Dr Hyland said that he finds the results "extremely disturbing". "It makes one wonder whether children, whose brains are still developing, should be using mobile phones," he adds. "The results show that children's brains are affected for long periods even after very short-term use. "Their brain wave patterns are abnormal and stay like that for a long period. "This could affect their mood and ability to learn in the classroom if they have been using a phone during break time, for instance. "We don't know all the answers yet, but the alteration in brain waves could lead to things like a lack of concentration, memory loss, inability to learn and aggressive behaviour."

"If I were a parent I would now be extremely wary about allowing my children to use a mobile even for a very short period. My advice would be to avoid mobiles."

Dr Michael Klieeisen, who conducted the study, said: "We were able to see in minute detail what was going on in the brain. "We never expected to see this continuing activity in the brain. "We are worried that delicate balances that exist - such as the immunity to infection and disease - could be altered by interference with chemical balances in the brain." (15) (16)

11) Professor Leif Salford and co-workers, authors of study on possible nerve damage from mobile phone radiation, warn about the possible implications for teenagers.

Professor Salford and colleagues at Lund University in Sweden exposed 12 and 26 week old rats, chosen because their developmental age is comparable to that of human teenagers, to two hours of microwave radiation, comparible to that of a GSM mobile phone. Their brains were examined for damage 50 days later. " The situation of the growing brain might deserve special concern," the authors wrote, "since biological and maturational processes are particularly vulnerable. We cannot exclude that after some decades of often daily use, a whole generation of users may suffer negative effects as early as middle age."

The study found that the microwave exposure was associated with leakage of albumin through the blood-brain-barrier and neuronal damage that increased in response to the

amount of exposure. Although the numbers of rats in the study was small the authors stated that "The combined results are highly significant and exhibit a clear dose-response relation."(17)

In an interview with the BBC News, Professor Salford said that "A rat’s brain is very much the same as a human’s. They have the same blood-brain-barrier and neurons. We have good reason to believe what happens in rat’s brains also happens in humans."(18)

"If this effect was to transfer to young mobile users, the effects could be terrifying. We can see reduced brain reserve capacity, meaning those who might normally have got Alzheimer’s dementia in old age could get it much earlier."(19)

Professor Salford then cautioned that mobile phone users should not be alarmed by the findings as it is one observation, in one laboratory with a small number of animals and needs to be repeated. "Nevertheless, it is strong enough to merit more reserch into this area." He then added: "Perhaps putting a mobile phone repeatedly to your head is something that might not be good in the long term.". . . "Maybe we should think about restricting our use of mobile phones," (20)

Prof. Salford said on the UK BBC Radio program "You and Yours"on 5 February 2003 that he would not allow his children to use a mobile phone other than in a real emergency and he chooses not to use one other than when he  really has to. He said he rated the reality of brain Damage as a "probability rather than a possibility" (21)

12) WHO Director General on children & mobile phone use:

(Quoted from Microwave News )

"Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), favors a precautionary approach to the use of mobile phones, according to press reports from Scandinavia.

In an interview with "Dagbladet Norge" (March 9, 2002), a major Norwegian newspaper , Brundtland discouraged children from using mobile phones. A physician with a degree in public health, Brundtland was a former prime minister of Norway.

Jon Liden, a communications advisor in Brundtland's office in Geneva, confirmed the accuracy of the Norwegian article to Microwave news.

Brundtland's outlook appears to put her at odds with the WHO International EMF Project. "Precautionary policies should not be applied to EMFs," Dr. Michael Repacholi, who oversees the project, stated recently (see MWN, S/O 01). He could not be reached for comment.

Brundtland advises everyone to limit the amount of time on the phone, but she does not think there is enough scientific evidence to issue a formal warning. For herself, Brundtland says that she gets a headache whenever she uses a mobile phone. "In the beginning I felt warmth around my ear. But the discomfort got worse and turned into a headache every time I used a mobile phone," Brundtland said in the interview. Making shorter calls does not help, she added. The interview was featured on the front page of "Dagbladet Norge" and was later picked up by the Swedish Press. (22)

13) Professor Michael Kundi, from the Institute of Environmental Health, University of Vienna, Austria, (writing in the July/August 2002 issue of Microwave News:)

I read with great interest your report on the Rome meeting on the possible risks of mobile phones to children (MWN, M/J02). My institution at the University of Vienna and Physicians for a Healthy Environment (a non-government organisation) have produced  an information booklet on Mobile Phones and Children, sponsored by the Austrian Greens Party. It discourages the use of mobiles by children.

The arguments are similar to those that have been put forward by others. In addition, however, it relies on a fact that has not been previously stressed and, to my surprise, appears not to have been discussed in Rome. A child’s skull is not only thinner and surely has different dielectric properties because it has more blood vessels – it also contains many more stem cells which can form blood cells.

Hence, if RFMW radiation has an influence on the development of cancer, its effects will be greater for two reasons. First the most vulnerable cells are only millimeters from the antenna. (To my knowledge, nobody has calculated the SAR within the bone marrow of the skull.) And second, the earlier in life a malign transformation occurs, the more likely it will result in a clinical malignancy. (23)

14) The French Government on March 1, 2002 reiterated an advisory to users of mobile phones, reminding them that, on a precautionary basis, parents should tell their children to limit the use of wireless phones, and that when using an earpiece pregnant women should keep the phone away from their bellies and teenagers should keep it away from their developing sex organs. (24)

15)  On October 9, 2002 twenty two medical doctors of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Environmental Medicine (Interdisziplilnare Gesellschaft fur Umweltmedizin e. V.  (IGUMED) met in order to discuss their concerns about the increasing level of public ill-health that they considered as a consequence of the increasing levels of high-frequency-radiation (radiofrequency/microwave radiation) from telecommunications technology.

Some of the diseases that they saw as a consequence of the technology are: Learning, concentration, and behavioural disorders (e.g. attention deficit disorder,ADD), extreme fluctuations in blood pressure, ever harder to influence with mediciations, heart rhythm disorders, heart attacks and strokes among an increasingly younger population, brain-degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's) and epilepsy, leukaemiaand brain tumors

Along with many recommendations they specifically called for a ban on mobile phone use by small children, and restrictions on use by adolescents. (25)

16) The British Medical Association's Board of Science & Education has issued an interim report, "Mobile Phones and Health" on 24th May 2001. The report states that individuals should limit their exposure to RFR and adopt a precautionary approach that specifically includes limiting children's use of mobile phones.(26)

17) From the article "Microwave And Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure: A Growing Environmental Health Crisis?" by Cindy Sage of Sage Consultants. Exerpt from the web site of the San Francisco Medical Society.

  “Are Children at Any Greater Risk? Probably, since children are growing and their cells are turning over faster than adults. Many of the studies linking power lines and cancer show that children are particularly sensitive to low EMF levels from chronic exposure and develop leukemias in response. The use of "kiddy mobile phones" with a button for mom and a button for dad are terrible ideas at this point.” (27)

18) Government ministers of both Thailand and Bangladesh have expressed concerns about the use of mobile phones by children.

In Thailand, Purachai Piemsomboon, whose campaign against vice has barred teenagers from pubs and night spots, cited a Japanese study, which he said concluded that mobile phones emitted radiation harmful to brain cells and nerves, especially of young people. He said that if teenagers continued to ignore the warning, a law to ban their use might become necessary. (28)

In Bangladesh, the Environment Minister mentioned the possibility of passing laws to ban mobile phones for children under 16 to protect them from exposure to radiation that could damage their brains. He outlined the plan at a conference of doctors and scientists in the capital, Dhaka. Regulations are also planned to stop companies from selling mobile phones to children. Families will be encouraged to keep them away from children.   Bangladesh’s mobile phone companies have critised the proposal, saying there is no scientific basis for the measure. (29)

What the Australian authorities say:

The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) has distributed to every school in the nation a pamphlet titled Mobile phones. . . your health and regulation of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation.  In relation to possible health effects, the ACA pamphlet states only that "The weight of national and international scientific opinion is that there is no substantiated evidence that using a mobile phone causes harmful health effects." (30)

This pamphlet is quite misleading because it gives a very biased version of the "science". When the ACA pamphlet refers to "The weight of national and international scientific opinion" it is referring to the opinion and radio frequency exposure guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) – guidelines recently incorporated into the Australian  RF standard. What is omitted from the ACA pamphlet, however, is an admission of the limited relevance of  ICNIRP on human exposures.

The ICNIRP guidelines are largely based on high-level, short-term animal exposure studies, conducted to determine exposure limits set to avoid immediate hazards to health (such as heating of body tissue, called a thermal effect) from high level exposures. To quote:

"Most of the established biological effects of exposure to RF fields are consistent with responses to induced heating. . . Most studies examined endpoints other than cancer, many examined physiological and thermo-regulatory responses, effects on behaviour and on the induction of lens opacities (cataracts) and adverse reproductive outcome following acute exposure to relatively high levels of RF fields. Very few studies are relevant to the evaluation of RF exposure on the development of cancer in humans ". (31)

The ACA pamphlet would be more truthful if it added to its conclusion: " . . There is no substantiated evidence that using a mobile phone causes harmful health effects."— because the necessary research has not yet been done.

Is it really good science for the ACA to depend upon high-level, short-term animal exposure studies to give assurances of safety with the use of mobile phones, especially where children are concerned? This, in effect, amounts to false advertising for the benefit of the mobile phone industry.

Most importantly, ICNIRP does not examine the possibility of other non-thermal health effects arising from long-term, low-level radiofrequency/microwave exposure, such as from using a mobile phone for years. As such, it is scientifically irrelevant to the issue. From a PR viewpoint however, statements like "The weight of national and international scientific opinion" do sound impressive at first glance.

In 1995, Dr. Ross Adey, one of the world's most respected and senior research scientists commented on the "The weight of national and international scientific opinion" by stating:

"The laboratory evidence for non-thermal effects of both ELF [power frequency] and RF/microwave fields now constitutes a major body of scientific literature in peer-reviewed journals. It is my personal view that to continue to ignore this work in the course of standard setting is irresponsible to the point of being a public scandal."(32)

In conclusion:

So what we have is an ideological battle between an increasing number of well qualified experts, calling for a precautionary approach to safeguard our children's health, versus the corporate might of a billion dollar industry with concerns based solely on maximising corporate profits at the possible expense of our children’s future wellbeing. The outcome of this conflict may not be known for many years, until today's young mobile phone users are well into their adulthood. By then, if the warnings of health hazards prove to be true, irreversible damage to the health of many of these people will have been done.

For every parent who is tempted to allow unrestricted mobile phone use by their children, they need to ask themselves:  Is it worth the risk?

And, for Walt Disney Co, if the well-being of their customers is truly their first priority, they need to seriously re-consider moving into telecommunications. If nothing else, do they dare take the risk of litigation if the warnings of health hazards are found to be real?

References

1) Maisch D. "Mobile Phone Use: its time to take precautions" ACNEM  Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp 3-10, April 2001.

2) "A Mickey Mouse Policy". Microwave News, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp 19,

     May/June 2002.

3) "Wireless Notes" Microwave News, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp 7,

     July/August 2002.

4) Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, Mobile Phones and Health,  Advice to Industry (1.53), pp 8, April 2005.

5) "Mobile Phone Adverts For Children Irresponsible", J. Radowitz, PA News, 10 Sept., 2001.

6) "The Government want us to say that these masts are completely safe and aren't dangerous, but we can't say that" Interview by Andy Mosley - Express & Echo - Friday January 24 2003

7) Http://www.health-concerns.org/health_concerns/resources/proposal.pdf

8)"German Academy of Pediatrics: Keep Kids Away from Mobiles", Microwave News, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp 5, Jan/Feb 2001.

9)Article in the Berliner Mornenpost, July 31, 2001.

10)The Australian Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee: Inquiry into Electromagnetic Radiation, June 2005. Also: "Kids phone usage fears" The Sunday Tasmanian, March 18, 2001.

11)Maisch D. "Mobile Phone Use: its time to take precautions" ACNEM

      Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp 4, April 2001.

12)Personal correspondence with Prof. Olle Johansson, The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute,  Sweden. (September,  2001).

13)Personal correspondence with Prof. Sianette Kwee, Department of

      Medical Biochemistry, University of Aarhus, Denmark.

      (September,  2001)

14) Personal correspondence with Dr. Gerard Hyland, University of

       Warwick, Department of Physics, Coventry, England. Excerpt

      from his Report for the STOA Committee of the EU. (Specifically

      dealing with children and mobile phone use)

15) "The Child Scrambler – What a mobile can do to a youngster’s

       brain in 2 minutes",  U.K. Sunday Mirror, 27 December 2001.

16) Personal correspondence with Dr. Gerard Hyland.

17) Salford L. Arne A. Eberhardt J. Malmgren L. Persson B. "Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones", In press Env. Health Per. http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/6039/abstract.pdf

18) "Mobile phones may trigger Alzheimer’s’ BBC News, Health Contents: Medical notes, 5 Feb. 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/health/2728149.stm

19) "Phones damage brains, The Mercury,  pp 3, February 7, 2003.

20) "Mobile phones may trigger Alzheimer’s’(as above)

21) "Mobile phone signals kill of brain cells", Powerwatch web site: http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/ Feb. 6. 2003.

22) "WHO Director on Cell Phones: Follow Precautionary Principle",

       Microwave News, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp 6, March/April 2002.

23)"More Reasons Children May Be at Risk", Microwave News, Vol.

       22, No. 4, pp 13, July/August 2002.

24) "Eye on Europe", Microwave News, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp 5,  March/April 2002.

25)As reported by the EMR Network: http://www.emrnetwork.org/news/IGUMED_english.pdf

26) "Mobile Phones and Health" The British Medical Association's Board of Science & Education , 24th May 2001

27) Website of the San Francisco Medical Society http://www.sfms.org/sfm/sfm301h.htm

28) "Thai Minister mulls cellphone ban for youngsters", Channel

      News Asia: Southeast Asia News, April 5, 2002.

29) "Bangladesh to ban mobile phones for Children", Ananova-

Orange mobile news service (http://www.ananova.com)

June 3, 2002.

30) "Mobile phones. . .your health and regulation of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation" Australian Communications Authority, April 2001.

31)  International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Health Issues Related to the use of hand-held Radiotelephones and Base Transmitters. June 1995.

32)  Personal correspondence with Ross Adey, August 1995.

Don Maisch

PO Box 96

North Hobart

Tasmania, 7002

Australia

E-mail: dmaisch@emfacts.com

Internet:  http://www.emfacts.com

Electrical Sensitivity

Arthur Firstenberg and Susan Molloy

The 750,000-watt Doppler weather radar at Fort Dix,  New Jersey, overlooks the Township of Brick. Why is that of interest to anyone but meteorologists? It’s not, except that eight out of every 1000 children born in Brick since the radar station was built in 1994 are autistic.

The Brick Township Autism Investigation (1), conducted in 1998 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, uncovered 60 cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among children aged three through ten in this town of 77,000 residents. As in much of the rest of the world, autism is increasing here. But the prevalence of both ASD and classic autism in Brick Township were found to be dramatically higher than normal in the 3-to-5-year-old age group, i.e., those born since 1994.

Forward-thinking educators and parents have done a good job in recent years of tackling the difficult issues involved in protecting sensitive children from chemical contaminants, dyes, preservatives, and allergens in their food, medications, classrooms, and homes. However, an additional burden has been overlooked and even ridiculed as untenable as a factor in many children’s profound neurological and behavioral problems. Some readers may react with disbelief to our suggestion that the Fort Dix Doppler might qualify for a place on the “radar screen” of those scientists who are puzzled by the local epidemic of autism. (2)

The authors of this article are adults who are made extremely sick, sometimes incapacitated, from exposure to “normal” amounts of electromagnetic energy. We’ve seen some children respond as we do, as their well-meaning parents and teachers equip them with newer, faster, more powerful “safety” and communication devices, oblivious to the potential consequences for their children’s health and development. We’re not oblivious to these consequences because we ourselves respond directly and immediately, with debilitating pain, confusion, and neurological symptoms, to cell phones, cordless phones, computers, televisions, and other normal elements of today’s home, work and school environments. And we are in increasingly good company.

Gro Harlem Brundtland is director-general of the World Health Organization. A medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health, as well as former prime minister of Norway, she has recently been speaking in public about her own sensitivity to computers, cordless phones and cell phones. Not only has she warned parents against allowing their children to use cell phones or microwave ovens, but she said that she herself has become so sensitive to the radiation that she does not allow anyone to enter her office with a cell phone turned on. “If you enter my office, you are invited by me. No one who is invited would like to give me headaches,” she said at a news conference in Oslo on July 1, 2002, where she was attending an international conference on cancer.

Awakening to the potential of electricity to affect children’s health and development can be initially disheartening, because electromagnetic pollution is so inescapable, and its sources so often are “conveniences” for which we’ve eagerly expended considerable resources. It can also be empowering, because it gives parents and practitioners an additional tool and offers a new range of potential factors that may be influencing seemingly intractable health or behavior problems.

Both of us went to school and were graduated from college before personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, and everything that goes along with them even existed. As environmentally sensitive people, we feel lucky to have grown up before today’s conditions became the norm.

What Can We Do?

Computers in the classroom are practically unquestioned now, and that is fine for the durable. However, our  society should provide computer-free classrooms for those vulnerable children for whom this is a necessary and effective accommodation.

In schools where wireless computers—or regular computers with wireless keyboards/mice—are installed, even a computer-free classroom will not be an effective intervention for a child whose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is triggered or exacerbated by electromagnetic radiation. This is because the microwave frequencies used by these technologies, identical to the frequencies used in a microwave oven, pass through walls and do not respect the boundaries of classrooms.

What we suggest runs counter to the prevailing educational trend, which is to throw more and more computer-enabled devices at physically and developmentally disabled children in an effort to improve their functioning, without any consideration of the potential effects of the extra radiation on their developing nervous systems. When adult populations were sampled within the last year for the prevalence of electrical sensitivity, estimates by researchers varied from 1.5% (Stockholm, Sweden) to 3.3% (state of California) to 7% (Marin County, California) of the population. One patient group in Germany puts the number as high as 15% of the German population. Nobody knows exactly, because this is an isolating, disabling, and ridiculed problem that is still in the public health “closet,” along with most of its victims. Children are the most vulnerable segment of the population. They are also the most unaware of the potential effects of this invisible and largely unacknowledged pollutant coming from equipment that is so fervently sought by their peers and esteemed by their parents and teachers.

Medical facilities, also, are sites of electronics’ proliferation. The growing field of medical telemetry uses wireless technology to monitor the vital signs of hospital patients. But also, in hospitals, nursing homes, day care and elder care facilities, mental health institutions and group homes, remote monitoring of patients is in increasing use, not only for medical purposes, but simply to cut back on personnel costs.

New automobiles have much larger electromagnetic fields than they had ten or twenty years ago. This is due to multiple computer-controlled operating systems, GPS satellite-tracking devices, digital dashboard displays, and, commonly, a cell phone constantly charging in the car.

The situation is not hopeless.

At home, every parent can easily do the following experiment: tonight, before your family goes to bed, unplug all of these items you may have in your home: the TV, the computer, the base unit of the cordless phone, the entertainment center, and the baby monitor. Notice the quality of everyone’s sleep, how you feel in the morning on awakening, and note whether you and your child seem calmer. Appliances should be completely unplugged, not just turned off at a surge protector (which itself may be a source of electromagnetic fields).

If your child has a motorized wheelchair, don’t plug it in overnight next to his or her bed. Often these children are especially vulnerable as they may already have epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or other mobility-impairing conditions.

Electric floor or ceiling heaters, fluorescent lights, dimmer switches, and electronic security systems can all produce problematic electromagnetic fields. Finding all the sources and eliminating or avoiding them requires patience and may be time-consuming but is not necessarily difficult or expensive. Your basic measuring tools are a $40 magnetic field meter, or “gaussmeter,” and a cheap (poorer quality is better for this purpose) battery-operated AM radio. When the gaussmeter reads 0.2 milligauss or less, and the radio, when tuned between stations, remains silent (does not buzz or give loud static), you have a relatively calm environment—especially important in the sleeping area. These two measuring devices will not detect the very high frequency radiation produced by cordless phones, wireless computers, baby monitors, remote controls for appliances, radio-controlled toys, and other wireless equipment. We recommend eliminating wireless technology from the environment altogether.

Many homes will have ambient magnetic fields that cannot be reduced to 0.2 milligauss because of factors outside your control, most commonly nearby power lines and transformers. Neighbors’ activities may also be a factor. But reducing exposures to the extent possible within the home may still have a significant effect, especially on neurological or behavioral problems in developing children. Exposures outside our own control, such as from the street, a radar station or cell tower, at school, or in hospitals and medical facilities, can be dealt with effectively only on a societal level. We have a long way to go before these problems are given the serious attention they deserve.

Ironically, some of our societal problems, such as school violence and kidnappings of children—even before 9/11 added to our worries—are being used as reasons to attach more cell phones to our kids for their safety and our peace of mind. But these very devices, and the millions of towers and antennas that make their use possible, expose all of us to a level of radiation that we know (from studies and painful firsthand experience) can contribute to the anxiety, depression, irritability, impulsivity, confusion, and general unrest that feed the very concerns which led to the need for all those cell phones in the first place. This can begin to change as more of us turn them off and experience the difference.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Bertrand, J. et al., Prevalence of Autism in a United States Population: The Brick Township, New Jersey Investigation, Pediatrics 108:1155-1161 (2001).

2. The Doppler appears to be the latest addition to a number of radar facilities in the area. McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix Military Reservation, and Lakehurst Naval Air Warfare Center are all located west of Brick. Military jets from those bases, equipped with powerful radars of their own, also fly over Brick on their way out to sea.

SUGGESTED READING:

George Carlo, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age, Carroll & Graf, New York, 2001.

Jane M. Healy, Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds—and What We Can Do About It, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998.

B. Blake Levit, ed., Cell Towers: Wireless Convenience? Or Environmental Hazard?, New Century Publishing, Sheffield, MA, 2005.

Lucinda Grant, The Electrical Sensitivity Handbook, Weldon Publishing, Prescott, AZ, 1995.

Robert O. Becker and Gary Selden, The Body Electric: Electro-magnetism and the Foundation of Life, William Morrow, New York, 1985.

** Electromagnetic field (EMF) meters may be obtained from Alpha Lab, 1280 South 300 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101, (800)-769-3754 Less EMF, Inc., 26 Valley View Lane, Ghent, NY 12075, (888) LESS-EMF.

About the authors: 

Arthur Firstenberg is founder and director of the Cellular Phone Taskforce, a nonprofit organization that disseminates information about electromagnetic radiation and advocates for electrically sensitive people. He is editor of the Taskforce’s publication, No Place to Hide, and the author of Microwaving Our Planet: The Environmental Impact of the Wireless Revolution.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University in 1971 with a B.A. in mathematics, he went to medical school from 1978 to 1982. Injury by x-ray overdose cut short his career. Firstenberg explains that after receiving about 50 diagnostic x-rays during extensive dental work, he became sensitive to high-powered equipment in the hospitals where he worked. “I could literally feel the radiation from the equipment; it made me weak and dizzy, but I kept working. After several months I collapsed. I was 31 and no one knew the cause of my illness. I was bedridden for about three months and at first I was not sure if I would survive.”

Firstenberg’s symptoms included a slow heartbeat, chest pain, extreme shortness of breath on exertion, and weight loss. By reading Eastern European literature on the subject, he eventually discovered that he had the symptoms of radio wave sickness. He later learned that any type of electromagnetic field may provoke similar illness in sensitive people, which commonly manifests with nausea, dizziness, headache, irritability, insomnia, and difficulty with memory and concentration. He also gradually became chemically hypersensitive.

His therapeutic approach is strict avoidance. At home, he has no computer, no television, no wireless equipment, no microwave, and uses only incandescent lighting. He moved cross-country to Mendocino, California which has minimal electrical pollution, and he is symptom-free as long as he avoids exposure.

As is often the case in advocacy organizations, Firstenberg’s personal experience led him to study the condition that plagued him. He is now an international spokesperson and advisor on the subject of electrical sensitivity (ES). He can be contacted by phone at (707) 937-3990 or mail: P.O. Box 1337, Mendocino, CA 95460. 

Susan Molloy has an MA in disability policy and provides referrals and troubleshooting for people with symptoms provoked by environmental exposures. She is cofounder of the Environmental Health Network (EHN) of California and edited EHN’s newsletter for 11 years. She served as chair of the Independent Living Council in Arizona and works at New Horizons Independent Living Center in Prescott Valley. She works from home due to her inability to withstand electromagnetic exposure, and uses a custom-shielded computer provided by Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Molloy has a history of allergies since childhood and was hospitalized with chemical sensitivities at age 31. ES symptoms emerged shortly after this. “When I go under power lines or fluorescent lights it feels like a blow to the top of my head,” she explains. Asked if she could run errands, Molloy explains, “I can go into articless and other buildings. It’s getting back out that’s the problem. I tend to lose coordination and would often be stumbling if I didn’t use a wheelchair. I get disoriented and my speech is also affected.” Professional-grade ear protectors help soften the impact of auditory hypersensitivity to motor noises. She feels that living in the desert, where she keeps appliances to a minimum, has given her more stamina.

“I’d like to think that Arthur and I are just special cases, that people can stand back and distance themselves from our difficulties. I’d like to think that others won’t suffer similar problems. But we know better. The numbers are growing, and no one is listening.” She can be reached at (928) 536-4625 or susanm@cybertrails.com.

Back to top of page

What Americans Need to Know about Radiation (or EMR) from Wireless Communications

Margaret Meade Glaser
Chicago, Illinois
EMR Network (Board of Directors)

www.emrnetwork.org
 

I was gratified that you included the topic of electromagnetic effects on biology, particularly from high frequencies used in wireless transmissions, in Latitudes (Vol. 5, #4). What Americans need to know, and what they are not being told, is that three out of four independent (non-industry sponsored) research studies worldwide are showing biological effects from low-level, nonionizing radiation similar to that used in wireless communications. These are called "nonthermal effects" because they occur at levels too low to cause tissue heating. The telecom industry, and the FCC's safe exposure guidelines, recognize only thermal (heating) effects.  That means that exposures at intensity (power) levels below that threshold are officially being considered "safe" while the research is suggesting otherwise.

For clarity's sake, the frequency range of nonionizing radiation used in wireless communications is referred to as "radiofrequency/microwave radiation" or RF/MW.  Microwave ovens get their name from the fact that they use this type of radiation to cook food (you could call this an example of a thermal effect).  Radar frequencies are also in this range.

While the FCC maintains that its guidelines are protective, and indeed may be heading toward relaxing them significantly in the near future, that is not the position that was put forth by a federal interagency workgroup of nonionizing radiation experts.  In a letter to a standards setting committee in 1999 (1), they outlined fourteen points which they believed needed to be addressed before any FCC guidelines could be deemed credible and sufficiently protective of the public. Nothing was done with these recommendations.

In letters dated July and September 2002, scientists from the Radiation Protection
Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency (2) stated that they are concerned about the burgeoning exposure of the public to nonionizing radiation, and that claims that the FCC guidelines are protective of all possible mechanisms of damage are unjustified.  Do you think a wireless-happy public has any idea of this?

If this were all just theoretical and we had to wait years to see if there were any measurable effect, that would be one thing. However, I have talked to many down-to-earth, normal, professional and nonprofessional people who on their own have noticed headaches, dizziness, ear ringing, pain, and/or other symptoms when they use their cell or PCS phones.  I just heard from a young man working in a telecom broadband department that he has fielded about 10 calls of this sort in the three months he has been there, and he is not even in the wireless department.

Since October, over a hundred doctors in Germany have signed a document stating that they are seeing increased health problems among patients related to cell phone use and chronic exposure to radiation from cell towers and antennas (3).  In France, a first study was completed this past year correlating health symptoms with cell tower proximity (4).  Clearly, something is going on.

If you look at the history of research on nonionizing radiation (the energy waves below the frequencies of visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum), you will see that nonthermal effects were first reported decades ago, but were deemed to be research mistakes. Over time, we have learned just how much the soviets knew about these effects as evidenced by their having beamed the U. S. embassy in Moscow with low levels of this radiation several decades ago. In fact, many in the embassy were found to have developed serious health conditions.You can read about this in Nicholas Steneck's 1986 book, "The Microwave Debate." 

In the past twelve years there have been hundreds of studies showing these nonthermal effects--- such as DNA damage and nonrepair, opening of the blood-brain barrier (allowing toxins and pathogens to reach the brain), lowered immunity, decreased melatonin levels, effects on stress  proteins (indicating cell damage), formation of micronuclei (aberrations in cell nuclei which are often markers for cancer), changes in calcium metabolism affecting communication between cells, changes in brainwave patterns as seen on EEG's, plus effects observed on many different systems of the body. 

What is not clear is the degree to which these effects are cumulative given chronic exposure, and whether they are indeed linked to major health problems like cancer and neurological conditions.  The bioeffects seen are, however, plausible precursors to such conditions, and some evidence suggests there may be an association.  Even conservative researchers who have witnessed and studied nonthermal bioeffects say that this radiation is a "probable" cause of health problems.

Right now, many schools are financially strapped, and the promise of a monthly check in exchange for leasing a bit of space on the property or building for antennas seems very attractive.  (This is also true of hospitals, office buildings, apartment buildings, churches, etc.).  There is a big push for educational achievement right now that is leading schools that can afford it to get wireless internet computer networks installed, some of which transmit microwaves all day long.  When children go home, many use cell phones (and cordless phones, which while lower power, also emit radiation) and may live in the close vicinity of cell towers and building-mounted antennas. Some may have their bedrooms over wireless remote-read utility meters.  Even the "second-hand smoke" of others' use of wireless devices and phones can be affecting them. 

Since children are more vulnerable to this radiation, because their bodies are still developing and the radiation can penetrate them more deeply, where is it going to end for them?&n