There is a health menace stalking us
today. It has been injuring and killing people by the tens of thousands
each year for decades. It is silent, invisible, tasteless and odorless.
For a long time no one thought it could cause a problem. Now, research
compiled since the early seventies has given us a warning of a clear and
present health hazard. I am talking about extremely low frequency electromagnetic
radiation (ELFEMR).
A magnetic force field is generated
by electrical current that reverses (cycles) sixty times a second and is
found radiating from most electrical wires and appliances. These force
fields induce a sudden and dramatic change in the normal genetic process
during mitosis in cell division. Reba Goldman, a geneticist and cell biologist
at Columbia University's medical center, and Ann S. Henderson, a
molecular biologist at Hunter College found in the course of subsequent
experiments that genetic code exchanges (transcription and translation)
could be speeded up in living cells after only 15 minutes of exposure to
electromagnetic signals of sixty hertz (60Hz), the same as power lines
to homes. They concluded;..."RNA transcription is extraordinarily
sensitive to specific electromagnetic signals." This may explain
why Dr. Wendell Winters and Dr. Jerry Phillips discovered that cancer cells
increased reproduction dramatically after exposure to 60Hz electromagnetic
fields (EMFs), while doing research on human colon cancer cells.
In laboratory experiments researchers
found that EMFs stronger than 1.5 miligauss (1.5mG) suppressed the human
immune system causing profound changes in metabolic activity, blood serum
levels, enzyme activity, hormone production, and strength of the natural
killer T-Lymphocytes (white blood cells that kill cancer cells).
Thus these two factors of genetic
alteration of RNA, DNA and suppression of the immune system help explain
why cancer is promoted by EMF radiation. This also explains why very high
morbidity and mortality rates have been associated with those who have
had daily exposure to electromagnetic fields stronger than 1.5mG.
The rate of leukemia and brain tumors among utility line workers and children
who attend schools near high voltage lines or electrical substations is
9 to 10 times the average.
Why, you may ask, aren't the
government public health and safety agencies and industries making major
efforts to correct the problem and protect us from this very real danger?
The answer in a word is: money. If the power companies acknowledged ELFEMR
to be a problem they would have to rewire some of their systems. Some manufacturers
of appliances would have to shield transformers and electric motors in
their products. Although many products could be made safe with a few cents
worth of electrical wire, most manufacturers are reluctant to make any
changes. Some homeowners would have to rewire their homes. Other homeowners,
those who live within 2,000 feet of the 765 kilovolt towers, would have
to move, unless they persuaded the utilities to rewire or relocate their
towers.
The power companies, manufacturers
and various government agencies, however, would rather pay unscrupulous
and morally challenged scientist to distort scientific reports, ignore
public concern and produce reams of disinformation to confuse and obscure
the danger rather than deal with the problem. The White House prevented
scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency from listing EMFs as
a class B1 carcinogen. Cigarettes are a class B1 carcinogen.
Their short run profit approach to
the problem ignores the long run losses in lawsuits, damage awards and
incalculable human suffering from death, disease and birth defects. And
the number of victims is rapidly rising. As more unshielded video display
terminals, cellular phones, hair dryers, microwave ovens and other electrical
devices are made and sold, the number of exposed and potential cancers
increases. We are looking at what may soon become the number one pathogen
in industrial countries. Not only does ELFEMR encourage cancer growth,
but by suppressing the immune response it encourages the development of
other diseases that would normally be kept under control by a healthy immune
system. The potential outcome resulting from this phenomena is truly awesome
to contemplate.
What can we do?
There are a number of things a person can do to avoid these hazards with a little effort and a small investment.
1. Purchase or borrow a gaussmeter ($50-$60) and check
the EMFs where you live, travel and work. Avoid spending more than ten
minutes at a time in areas that exceed 1.5mG.
2. Move appliances with high EMFs to locations where
you will not be staying for long periods of time (working, sleeping) while
they are on.
3. Move beds, sofas, cribs etc., from areas of the house
where high field strength is detected.
4. Have an electrician correct faulty wiring causing
high EMFs.
5. Turn off electrical breakers which supply fields if
#3 and #4 are not possible.
6. Take your gaussmeter along when you go to purchase
a new electrical appliance. Use it to check the EMF intensity of the different
brands.
The AIDS epidemic, Mad Cow epidemic and now the EMF epidemic have proven that we can not rely on the Center for Disease Control, EPA, Department of Health and other government watchdogs of public health, safety and environment to protect us. As these agencies respond to this new and rapidly developing crisis with denial, deception and double-talk we must move quickly and take appropriate action, before we become a statistic of EMF radiation as those victims of asbestos, nuclear fallout and cigarettes were before us.
Dudley Lewis
Reading list:
1. Warning: Electromagnetic Fields May be Dangerous
to Your Health by Ellen Sugarman.
2. Currents of Death by Paul Brodeur.
3. The New Yorker Magazine, June 12, 19, &
26, 1989 and July 9, 1990.
4. Lyle,B.B. et al. Suppression of T-lymphocyte
Cytotoxicity Following Exposure to 60Hz Sinusoidal Electric Fields. Bioelectromagnetism
Vol.9 (1986):pp. 303-307.
5. Cell Phones Linked to Cancer in Mice by Jonathan
Marshall, San Francisco Chronicle, October 3, 1996