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1. No adverse effect: a Fallacy.
The popular belief that adverse health effects from cellphones and cordless phones can be induced only by the
heating effect of GSM radiation [global system mobile] is a fallacy.
2. Consistent evidence of adverse health
affects at intensities below safey levels.
1. There is consistent empirical as well as anecdotal evidence from many countries that the health of some
people is adversely affected in various ways when they are exposed to this kind of radiation, despite its
intensity being well below existing safety limits based on SAR values. [specific absorption rate]
3. Peer reviewed studies of health effect in
non-thermal way.
2. Many reported adverse health effects and an extensive portfolio of non-thermal effects have been published in
the peer reviewed, scientific literature during the last 30 years. These indicate that the kind of
radiation now used in GSM telephony can and does affect alive organisms in various non-thermal ways, in
accordance with the quite general (non-equilibrium) predictions of modern, non-linear biophysics.
4. Exposure between phone and base station
causes illness, too - Documented evidence.
3. There is documented evidence that long-term (involuntary) exposure to microwave radiation of an intensity
intermediate between that realised near an active handset and that found in the vicinity of a Base-station (but
at slightly higher carrier frequencies than used in GSM) does causes serious illness, such as leukaemia and
lymphoma, in certain exposed people.
5. Guidelines are No safety against
frequency-specific effects.
Existing Safety Guidelines, based solely on consideration of the SAR, afford no protection against
frequency-specific effects. They limit only the intensity of the microwave radiation sufficiently to
ensure that tissue heating by absorption of energy is not in excess of what can be coped with by the body's
thermoregulatory mechanism.
6. Aliveness of being overlooked.
Existing Safety Guidelines thus neglect the most discriminating feature of all, namely, the aliveness of the
irradiated organism. They address only 'one side of the coin' - the thermal side - leaving the exposed
person vulnerable to the possibility of adverse health effects provoked by the neglected non-thermal side.
7. User still vulnerable with phone or
transmitting device nearby.
The same indictment applies to any protection device that acts simply to reduce - either by screening or by an
employing an ear-piece - the intensity of the microwave radiation emitted by a mobile phone handset into the
head of the user. The user is still left vulnerable to any adverse health effects that might possibly be
provoked by the neglected frequency dimension.
8. Human is an alive being with its own
complex, sensitive electromagnetic system.
Partly responsible for the reluctance to accept the reality of non-thermal effects is the fact that they often
become more marked as the strength of the irradiating field decreases. This is often counter-intuitive.
Replicate them can also the difficulties.
Reluctance to accept that non-thermal effects can provoke adverse
health reactions in some people can be attributed in part to a general lack of appreciation that electromagnetic
fields are not alien to an alive organism, but actually play a rather fundamental and integral role in its
organisation and control, from the cellular level upwards. That is, an alive organism is itself an
electromagnetic instrument of great and exquisite sensitivity, and, as such, is just as vulnerable to being
deleteriously interfered with (non-thermally) by external electromagnetic fields. This is the same for any
activated piece of electronic equipment (although in the latter case the influence of a given field is always
the same, unlike the situation with an alive organism.
9. Disregard for 'electromagnetic
biocompatibility' with humans in cellphone frequencies.
A good example of the disturbing disregard for 'electromagnetic biocompatibility' is the development of TETRA
over a much wider range of microwave carrier frequencies and with a frame repetition rate of 17.6Hz, which -
lies in the range of beta human brain-wave activity;
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is close to that at which a flashing visible light can provoke
seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy;
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is also close to the modulation frequency at which there is a
maximum expression of calcium ions from brain cells when they are irradiated with pulsed, low intensity
electromagnetic radiation;
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in the lower frequency band facilitates deeper penetration of the
radiation into the brain directly through the skull.
10. Pulsed microwave radiation of GSM exerts
subtle non-thermal influence on humans.
Low intensity, pulsed microwave radiation used in GSM telephony can exert subtle, non-thermal influences on the
alive human organism because microwaves are waves and have properties other than solely intensity. GSM's
well-defined frequencies are discerned by the living organism, and can affect it. This is so because the
alive human organism itself supports a variety of oscillatory electrical biological activities, each
characterised by a particular frequency, some of which happen to be close to those used in GSM!
11. GSM frequencies are 'bioactive' on
humans.
Frequencies utilised in GSM that must be anticipated to be particularly 'bio-active' are those of the microwave
carrier (900/1800 MHz) and those associated with certain pulsings that characterise the TDMA signal. Of
specific concern are the multi-frame repetition rate of 8.34Hz, and the 2Hz periodicity associated with the
discontinuous transmission (DTX) mode of the handset. Such "energy saving" mode that becomes
active when the user is listening but not speaking. Adequately metabolising [living] systems
themselves support highly organised, oscillatory electrical activities at the cellular level. Frequencies
for this generally lie in the microwave band. There is evidence that ultra-low intensity microwaves of
specific frequencies have dramatic effects on processes as fundamental as cell division and intercellular
communication. This can now be understood in a rather natural way.
12. Humans discern very low intensity
frequencies.
Non-thermal influences are connected with the transfer of information from the irradiating field to the alive
organism, through the latter's ability to 'recognise' certain frequency characteristics of the radiation.
In order for the organism to be able to discern such weak radiation against the level of its own thermal
emission at physiological temperatures, the radiation must have a certain minimum intensity. In the case
of microwave radiation, this minimum intensity is far below (of the order of 10-15 Watts/cm2) even that at which
non-thermal effects manifest themselves, in consequence of the radiation's rather well-defined carrier frequency
(or relatively high degree of coherence). The magnitude of this minimum power density is close to those
that characterise the human thresholds of hearing, sight and EEG response.
Typical power densities in the main beam near ground level some
hundreds of metres from a typical Base-station, and also in the often neglected 'side-lobes', are many orders of
magnitude higher than these threshold values. The ability of the alive human organism to discern
Base-station radiation is not at all contingent on a sensitivity that is in any way superior to those that it
already possesses (quite undisputedly) in the case of other exogenous fields of physiological relevance.
13. Humans are hyper-sensitive to ultra-weak
microwave radiation.
The hypersensitivity of the alive human organism to ultra-weak microwave radiation is amply borne out by the
ways in which this kind of radiation has been found to affect a wide variety of brain functions - such as
electrical activity (EEG), electrochemistry and the permeability of the blood/brain barrier - and to degrade the
immune system. Although the precise way in which these influences actually provoke adverse health
reactions is at present unclear, there is, as already noted, an undeniable consistency between some of these
non-thermal influences and the nature of many of the health problems reported.
14. Invisible Magnetic fields have even more
serious effect.
In GSM Handsets, there are also unscreenable magnetic fields associated with the current surges from the battery
of the Handset that are necessary in order to endow the microwave emission with the pulse characteristics
required for TDMA. Peak magnetic field strengths as high as 40mT have been measured near the back of
one particular Handset.
When an increased (microwave) power output is necessary to maintain
contact with the Base-station, this necessitates stronger surges of current, associated with which are
correspondingly stronger (and evidently more noxious) ELF magnetic fields. Recent experiments employing
chick embryos indicate an increased degree of mortality when the Handset. These ELF magnetic fields could
thus pose an even greater hazard to human health than do those associated with the microwave emission, a matter
that warrants urgent investigation.
15. Health problems arising from exposure.
Health problems include headache, sleep disruption, impairment of short term memory. More seriously, there
have been significant increases in the frequency of seizures in some epileptic children when exposed to
Base-station radiation, and of brain tumours amongst users of mobile phones.
16. Consistency of Health problems with known
medical information.
Headaches -
Reports of headache are consistent with the fact that microwaves are known to non-thermally affect the
dopamine-opiate system of the brain and to increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, since both of
these have been medically connected with headache.
Sleep disruption -
Reports of sleep disruption are consistent with the effect of GSM radiation on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
and on melatonin levels. The latter also being found epidemiologically, in the case of RF exposure.
Memory impairment -
Memory impairment is consistent with the finding that microwave radiation targets the hippocampus.
Epilepsy activity -
There is no reason to suppose that the seizure inducing ability of a flashing visible light does not extend to
(invisible) microwave radiation (which can access the brain directly through the skull) flashing at a similarly
low frequency. It is also a fact that exposure to this kind of radiation is known to induce epileptic
activity in certain animals and increased seizure activity in some children that already suffer from epilepsy.
Brain tumour -
A statistically significant increase (by a factor of between 2 and 3) amongst users of mobile phones in the
incidence of a rather rare kind of tumour (epithelial neuroma) in the periphery of the brain (where the
radiation has the greatest access), the laterality of which correlates with cellphone use, was found in a
nationwide epidemiological study in the USA as part of the WTR Programme.
Genotoxic effect: DNA strand breaks & chromosome aberrations -
This is consistent both with the genotoxicity of low intensity microwave radiation, as indicated by the
increased number of DNA strand breaks and the formation of chromosome aberrations and micronuclei in human
blood. The latter was corroborated in the case of GSM radiation by the WTR Programme.
17. Pre-adolescent children more vulnerable.
Pre-adolescent children can be expected to be (potentially) more at risk than are adults - as recognised in the
recently published Report of the UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones - for the following reasons:
1. Absorption of microwaves of the frequency used in mobile telephony is greatest in an object about the size of
a child's head - the so-called 'head resonance'.
2. The thinner skull of a child, allows the penetration of the radiation into the brain to be greater than in an
adult.
3. The still developing nervous system and associated brain-wave activity in a child 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 Handset
equipped with discontinuous transmission (DTX), 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 they
must both be anticipated to be particularly vulnerable to interference from the GSM pulsing.
4. The increased mitotic activity in the cells of developing children makes them more susceptible to genetic
damage.
5. A child's immune system efficiency is generally less robust than is that of an adult, so when degraded by
radiation of the kind used in mobile telephony it is even less able to 'cope' with any adverse health effect
provoked by (chronic) exposure to such radiation.
18. But Not Everyone is Adversely Affected -
Physiological state different.
Because both the occurrence of the initial provoking non-thermal effect as well as the severity of any
associated adverse health effect depend on aliveness, they necessarily depend on the physiological state of the
organism when it is exposed to the radiation. In other words, non-thermal effects are non-linear effects.
The physiological state of different people cannot be anticipated to
be the same. It depends, amongst other things, on the stability of an individual's brain rhythms against
interference or entrainment by the radiation, their already prevailing level of stress, and the robustness of
their immune system. Accordingly, identical exposure to exactly the same radiation can entail quite
different (non-thermal) responses in different people.
19. EM exposure may trigger otherwise latent
pathology.
Effects may depend on a person's genetic predisposition, and the fact that stress is cumulative. It is
quite possible that exposure to an electromagnetic field simply supplies the final contribution that raises a
particular person's level of stress above some critical value, thereby 'triggering' the manifestation of some
pathology that is already in a well advanced state, but which, in the absence of any exposure, would have
remained latent.
20. Difficulties in replicating non-thermal
effects understandable.
On the other hand, difficulties sometimes experienced in attempts to independently replicate certain non-thermal
effects are actually to be expected; for in consequence of the highly non-linear, non-equilibrium nature of
living systems, even the slightest differences in experimental protocols and conditions can (in consequence of
deterministic chaos) assume singular importance.
21. A risk does exist AND Children and highly
stressed people more vulnerable.
The oft-repeated statement that ......'There are no established adverse health effects of exposure to GSM
radiation.'....... is actually quite true, but, in view of all the above, this is necessarily so, thus making
the statement essentially vacuous. The more relevant consideration is whether there is an established risk
to human health. For the three reasons given, it must be concluded that such a risk does indeed exist.
Children and highly stressed people - particularly those with already
compromised immune systems (as well as those on certain prescribed psychoactive drugs) - must be considered more
vulnerable.
22. Affects on animals emerging.
An invaluable indicator of the potential noxiousness of the pulsed microwave fields emitted by Base-stations is
the increasing number of reports - some published, some as yet anecdotal - of adverse effects on the health and
well-being of various animal species, specifically cattle, dogs, birds and bees.
Cattle affected -
In one particular study, the cattle (which were found to line up, all facing away from the cellphone
transmission mast) displayed a variety of problems, including severely reduced milk yields, emaciation,
spontaneous abortions, and still births.
Especially relevant are the following facts:
(i) the condition of the cattle was found to improve dramatically when they were removed to pastures well away
from the mast, only to deteriorate again once they were brought back,
(ii) the adverse effects appeared only after GSM microwave antennae had been erected on a tower that had
formerly been used to transmit only (analogue) TV and radio signals, associated with which there had, in this
case, been no evident health problems.
This is not an isolated occurrence, similar problems with cattle being reported from elsewhere.
Dogs affected -
In the case of domestic canine pets, there are several instances of their the immune systems being adversely
affected, again in a reversible way.
Birds and bee populations affected -
There are reports of declines in bird and bee populations following the commissioning of new Base-station masts.
23. If animals are affected in a short period
of time, humans could be even more affected by long-term exposure.
Given that animals are often more highly electrosensitive than are humans, the serious nature of the health
problems they have manifested over such a relatively short period of time could well portend a correspondingly
serious noxiousness in the case of long-term exposure of humans. This constitutes a valuable early-warning
system, similar to the 'canary down the mine'!
The apparent absence to date of life threatening adverse effects in
the case of human exposure to GSM Base-station radiation is no guarantee of immunity against long-term (or
chronic) exposure. For exposure to this kind of radiation is still in its 'early days' in comparison to
the much longer (10-15 years) latency period of the kinds of cancers that might be promoted in certain people.
24. GSM transmissions not like radio & TV
transmissions.
To appeal to the (alleged) absence of health problems associated with the higher power density electromagnetic
fields associated with radio/TV transmissions in an attempt to justify the retention of the present level of
emission from GSM Base-stations is untenable on at least two accounts:
(i) the nature of the emissions are quite different, with respect to carrier frequencies, modes of transmission
(pulsed/analogue), and to beam morphology,
(ii) there are health problems connected with some such transmitters!
25. 3rd Generation mobile phones replacing
TDMA with CDMA do not lessen the risk.
With the advent of the Third Generation of mobile phones, the frequency and severity of some neurological
problems might be expected to diminish, in consequence of the replacement of TDMA by CDMA. For although
any sensitivity to the microwave carrier will remain, the pulsing of radiation used in CDMA is irregular.
Accordingly CDMA radiation cannot enjoy, for example, the same 'oscillatory similitude' with the human
brain-wave activity. In consequence, of the somewhat higher carrier frequency used, which is close to
where water strongly absorbs microwaves, thermal effects could here become more of a problem!
26. Conclusion - Concern at non-thermal
effects and "Safety" Guidelines do not cover these.
Absorption of microwave radiation causes heating of biological tissue, which if excessive is deleterious to
health; this is undisputed, and forms the basis of current Safety Guidelines, both national and international.
In the case of exposure to the microwave radiation used in GSM, these Guidelines are generally not violated.
Indeed, in the case of the emissions from Base-stations, it has been repeatedly confirmed by field measurements
that the emissions are far below - by many orders of magnitude - the limits set by the Guidelines.
What is currently disputed is whether, in the case of the alive human
organism, this radiation can exert other, more subtle, kinds of non-thermal influences, which might also entail
adverse health consequences. The root of the continuing public concern is that if this is, in fact, the
case, then the existing Guidelines leave an exposed person vulnerable to these hazards.
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