21/12/2004 - Microwave News is Back!

Last September I attended the International Scientific Conference on Childhood Leukemia in London. At the end of the weeklong meeting, I was convinced, more than ever, that the time has come for precautionary policies to reduce exposures from power-frequency EMFs.

On further reflection, I realized that the reason simple and low-cost measures have yet to be adopted has less to do with resistance from the electric utility industry (what else would one expect?) than from the public health community.

Mike Repacholi of the World Health Organization's (WHO) International EMF Project, has been the #1 foot-dragger. Last month, he released a draft "Precautionary Framework" with a case study on ELF EMFs. This came close to two years after Repacholi and his assistant Leeka Kheifets endorsed applying the Precautionary Principle to control EMF cancer risks -- but they then quickly flip-flopped and withdrew the proposal. Sad to say, they have turned their small corner of the WHO into an industry outpost.

All the excuses not to protect children used by Repacholi, Kheifets and others at health agencies in the US and the UK are bogus. It's all explained in a special issue of Microwave News, now posted on our Web site. You can read it online or you can download a pdf of the complete special issue.

Let's hope for better in 2005.

Best,
Louis Slesin, PhD