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The MREC provides the following list of current resources on the
topic of Electric and Magnetic Fields:
NEW PUBLICATION! Effects of low-level radio-frequency (3kHz to 300GHz) energy on human cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and other systems: A review of the recent literature. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2007 Aug 8; Jauchem JR. Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Bioeffects Division, Radio Frequency Radiation Branch, 8262 Hawks Road, San Antonio, TX 78235-5147, USA ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: Occupational or residential exposures to radio-frequency energy (RFE), including microwaves, have been alleged to result in health problems. A review of recent epidemiological studies and studies of humans as subjects in laboratory investigations would be useful. METHODS: This paper is a narrative review of the recent medical and scientific literature (from mid-1998 through early 2006) dealing with possible effects of RFE on humans, relating to topics other than cancer, tumors, and central nervous system effects (areas covered in a previous review). Subject areas in this review include effects on cardiovascular, reproductive, and immune systems. RESULTS: A large number of studies were related to exposures from cellular telephones. Although both positive and negative findings were reported in some studies, in a majority of instances no significant health effects were found. Most studies had some methodological limitations. Although some cardiovascular effects due to RFE were reported in epidemiological studies (e.g., lower 24-h heart rate, blunted circadian rhythm of heart rate), there were no major effects on a large number of cardiovascular parameters in laboratory studies of volunteers during exposure to cell-phone RFE. In population-based studies of a wide range of RFE frequencies, findings were equivocal for effects on birth defects, fertility, neuroblastoma in offspring, and reproductive hormones. Some changes in immunoglobulin levels and in peripheral blood lymphocytes were reported in different studies of radar and radio/television-transmission workers. Due to variations in results and difficulties in comparing presumably exposed subjects with controls, however, it is difficult to propose a unifying hypothesis of immune-system effects. Although subjective symptoms may be produced in some sensitive individuals exposed to RFE, there were no straightforward differences in such symptoms between exposed and control subjects in most epidemiological and laboratory studies. Consistent, strong associations were not found for RFE exposure and adverse health effects. The majority of changes relating to each of the diseases or conditions were small and not significant. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of previous reviews of older literature and the current review of recent literature, there is only weak evidence for a relationship between RFE and any endpoint studied (related to the topics above), thus providing at present no sufficient foundation for establishing RFE as a health hazard.
American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
Bonneville Power Administration
Bioelectromagnetic Societies Journal
California Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF) Program
Capacitors and Capacitive Electrical Filters
Children's Environmental Health
Network-- Resource
Guide on Electric and Magnetic Fields
Cinnergy
-- What
We Know and Don't Know About EMF
Closing the book - Are power-line fields a dead issue?, by Gary Stix
Edison Electric Institute and Organizations of MISO States
Electric and Magnetic
Fields
Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health (Fact Sheet 263)
Electromagnetic Fields: Policy, Science and Litigation
- by William J. Walsh, Richard Wilson, and Martin S. Kaufman. [Note: The link
to this publication no longer exists. If you wish to obtain a copy, contact the
National Legal Center for the Public Interest.]
EPRI
EMF Link -- A
Biomedical Science and Engineering Clearinghouse on Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF)
Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Fields -- A service by Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).
Health Canada
-- EMF
at Extremely Low Frequencies
IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.)
- Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society,
Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR): COMAR is a group of experts on
health and safety issues related to electromagnetic fields, from powerline
through microwave frequency ranges. They are technical committee of the Engineering
in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The Committee reports to the EMBS President
and Administrative Committee. COMAR's primary area of interest is biological
effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. Click
here
for a Sept. 2002 article on the subject of hypersensativity.
- International Committee
on Electromagnetic Safety
Institute of Electrical Engineers Policy Advisory Group
International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Standing
Committee on Epidemiology
International EMF Project - UN World Health Organization.
This site has a worldwide standard base on exposure limits to EMF of all types
from many different countries in addition to various review documents or policy
recommendations.
Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power --
Understanding EMF
MCL
Medical College of Wisconsin
Medline Plus Health Information:
EMF
Microwave News --
Note: Privately published newsletter that focuses on various EMF
topics including transmission lines. This journal is not peer reviewed or backed
by any established authority.
Minnesota Department of Health
Mobile Phone Usage and EMF
- Dial-a-scare: The mobile phone panic is fuelled by politics, not science.
This split between a scientific and more personal face is at the heart of
the mobile phones saga. The original Stewart Report back in 2000 was
essentially two reports in one. The first was an exemplary scientific review
of knowledge in this particular field, which concluded that there was no
significant evidence of harm. But the other aspect of the report was about
self-consciously acknowledging public anxieties. The world's leading experts
in the field have themselves warned against the application of non-science-
based precaution, making clear that some proof is required of a hazard. Even
the consumer safety-obsessed European Commission, for its own reasons, has
felt obliged to explain in an important communiqué that one cannot
simply invoke precaution without some kind of identifiable hazard, as opposed
to mere uncertainty. There will be no scientific 'magic bullet' that
can resolve this controversy- the saga will continue for as long as those
involved want it to. The call for 'more research' may be understandable on
the part of some scientists who want to pursue any uncertainty for reasons of
intellectual curiosity and/or further research funds. Were this saga
just about mass anxiety or even media alarmism, it is likely that it would
have ended long ago. What is fuelling the issue is the race to prove
precautionary credentials on the part of particular science-related
institutions. Having previously been a voice of reason on the matter, the
International EMF Project of the World Health Organization (WHO) has been
busily pushing for a more precautionary line on mobiles in the past couple of
years - to the dismay of some scientists who see no reason to change advice
without compelling new evidence. For the complete article, see:
http://www.spikedonline.com/Articles/0000000CA887.htm
- The four-year REFLEX project funded by the European Union involved 12 groups
from seven European countries, which all carried out supposedly identical
experiments. Results were then compared to see if any consistent findings emerged.
The conclusion? "Electromagnetic radiation of low and high frequencies is able
to generate a genotoxic effect on certain but not all types of cells and is also
able to change the function of certain genes, activating them and deactivating
them," says project leader Franz Adlkofer of the Verum Foundation in Munich,
Germany. Michael Repacholi of the World Health Organization in Geneva questions how
standardised the experiments were and says the results are far from conclusive.
For the complete article, see:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6819
- The scientists behind the European Union-funded Reflex study said more research
was needed to determine the actual effect of the phones on health. But the UK
National Radiological Protection Board said people should not be worried by the
study's findings. A spokesman said the study had not shown that biological
changes led to disease. He added that even research looking at the effects of
radiowaves on cells and DNA did not consistently find evidence of damage.
For the complete article, see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4113989.stm
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health
New IET Position Statement on the
Possible Health Effects of Mobile Phones and
Electricity Distribution
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