06/01/2013 - Important New 2012 BioInitiative Report

Vital reading if you want to protect your health

The new report concludes that we have far more evidence than is necessary to require us to immediately take more precautionary action to protect ourselves, our children and all life of the planet.

In twenty-one chapters of this 2012 update, 29 independent scientists and health experts from 10 countries assess about 1800 new research papers (from 2006 to 2011) regarding possible risks from wireless technologies and electromagnetic fields. They hold 10 medical degrees (MDs), 21 PhDs, and three MSc, MA or MPHs. Among the authors are three former presidents of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, and five full members of BEMS. One distinguished author is the Chair of the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation. Another is a Senior Advisor to the European Environmental Agency.

The last five years worth of new scientific studies tell us the situation is much worse than thought in 2007 and yet people around the world have so much more daily exposure than even five years ago. Exposures are linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes that may have significant public health consequences. Overall, there is reinforced scientific evidence of risk where there is chronic exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic fields and to wireless technologies that surround us 24-7(radiofrequency radiation including microwave radiation). No argument for no-action can be persuasive now.

The levels of exposure we face in 2012 are higher, and have crept into every day life, even for children. The levels at which undesirable effects on health and well-being are seen is much lower that levels we are regularly exposed to. There is much greater involuntary exposure, and it is nearly unavoidable even for people who choose not to "go wireless" (second-hand radiation effects). Safe forms of communication by land-line telephone are being phased out without general public knowledge or agreement. There is no informed consent for consumers (warning labels on cell phones, for example, have been defeated by telecom industry lobby groups).

There is more evidence in 2012 that such exposures damage DNA, interfere with DNA repair, evidence of toxicity to the human genome (genes), more worrisome effects on the nervous system (neurology) and more and better studies on the effects of mobile phone base stations that report adverse health impacts. There has been a big increase in the number of studies looking at the effects of cell phones on the belt, or in the pocket of men on standby and from wireless laptops on sperm quality, motility and sperm death, affecting fertility and reproduction.

The range of possible health effects that are adverse with chronic exposures has broadened. The most serious health endpoints that have been reported to be associated with extremely low frequency (ELF) and/or radiofrequency radiation (RFR) include childhood and adult leukemia, childhood and adult brain tumors, and increased risk of the neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Recent studies largely reinforce the potential risks to health (rather than reducing our concerns, or providing actual indications of safety). In addition, there are reports of increased risk of breast cancer in both men and women, genotoxic effects (DNA damage, chromatin condensation, micronucleation, impaired repair of DNA damage in human stem cells), pathological leakage of the blood-brain barrier, altered immune function including increased allergic and inflammatory responses, miscarriage and some cardiovascular effects. Insomnia (sleep disruption) is reported in studies of people living in very low-intensity RFR environments with WI-FI and cell tower-level exposures. Short-term effects on cognition, memory and learning, behavior, reaction time, attention and concentration, and altered brainwave activity (altered EEG) are also reported in the scientific literature. Biophysical mechanisms that may account for such effects can be found in various articles and reviews.

It includes brain tumor risks from cell phones, damage to DNA and genes, effects on memory, learning, behavior, attention; sleep disruption and cancer and neurological diseases like Alzheimer's disease. It also include effects on sperm and miscarriage (fertility and reproduction), effects of wireless on the brain development of the foetus and infant, and effects of wireless classrooms on children and adolescents is addressed. Therapeutic use of very low intensity EMF and RFR are addressed.

Downloads of the chapters and supporting papers are available at: 2012 BioInitiative Report.