One question for WHO Dr. Michael Repacholi
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Permanent fraud in health investigation?.

To emit only 13 hours in four days is NOT long-term radiation is publication of more health confusion and "delay tactic" in mobile telephony.

During 10 years the radiation emitted by one mast of base station is 87,600 hours.

Remember one mobile phone can modify the BBB in only 2 minutes use. (Dr. L. Salford)


Yours faithfully

Miguel Muntané


----- Original Message -----
From: Don Maisch
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 11:51 PM
Subject: Sydney Morning Herald spin on the French study

On July 20th the Sydney Morning Herald boldly announced that "New study says mobile phones are safe". Now it does NOT say that in the study but reporter Eamonn Duff obviously does not want facts get in the way of a good title line. And to trivialise the whole issue the article finishes off with a claim of the latest concern being "mobile mutant thumbs".

It is interesting to note that while the study was to test whether long-term mobile phone use could cause cancer, the sustained period to test for chronic exposure was four 1 hour exposures per day for three days, and for 1 hour on the 4th day. I'm not a cell biologist so could someone explain how in the hell this has any relevance on the chronic exposure a user would experience after say 10 years of mobile phone use?

Rather than being a world-first study this is just another minor footnote in a long history of inconclusive studies.

Don

New study says mobile phones are safe
 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/19/1058545628950.html

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Breakthrough in telepohone mast row
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After months of attempting to meet with the local mayor regarding their concerns over radiation emissions from telephone masts, which have been erected next to their homes and schools, protestors in the Algarve town of Tavira were finally granted an audience with town hall officials on April 16th.

But it had taken a petition signed by over 1,000 residents, and several public protests, before Mayor Macaroe Correia agreed to allow two of his representatives to meet with leaders of the protest groups. It is understood that prominent coverage given to the protestors’ concerns by The Portugal News during the past two months has also increased pressure on the mayor to, at last confront the problem.

One of the protestors, Teresa Drago, who attended the town hall meeting on April 16th told The Portugal News that the mayor’s representatives were surprisingly more than sympathetic to local residents’ fear of health problems posed by the masts. Of particular concern are three masts erected next to a primary school and kindergarten.

Teresa said that the town hall officials were fully supportive of the protestors and agreed that everything should be done to protect the health of residents and their children. According to Teresa the officials also guaranteed that they would do everything possible to protect the public from the "interests of the giant" network providers responsible for erecting the masts.

Local government officials have arranged to meet with representatives of the network providers to explore the possibility of re-locating all telephone masts in and around Tavira to a distance of 500 metres from residential properties and schools. Some other European countries have already imposed restrictions on masts being built within 650 metres of urban areas. A public meeting called by protesters for April 23rd has been postponed until after the outcome of the discussions between the town hall and network providers is known.

If Tavira’s town hall officials succeed in persuading the mobile phone companies to agree to the 500 metre limit it will certainly set a precedent for the rest of the Algarve, and no doubt the whole of Portugal. But the question still being asked, is how network providers such as Optimus and TMN have been allowed to erect thousands of masts throughout Portugal without official planning permission?

The Portugal News has received many thank-you emails and letters for putting readers, whose homes have been blighted by telephone masts, in touch with experts on the health dangers of radiation emissions. Dr. David Best of London, an independent radiation consultant to BBC TV, has been able to advise many of our readers on the ramifications of living close to masts. So too has Mr. Les Wilson, Managing Director of Microshield Industries, a UK company specialising in anti-radiation devices.

and

Tavira's about turn in telephone mast row
-----------------------------------------
One of the leaders of a protest group has told The Portugal News that assurances given by the Tavira City Hall, that it would do everything possible to protect residents from the harmful effects of telephone masts' radiation emissions, have turned out to be without foundation.

Teresa Drago said that, during a meeting with local government officials, both she and her colleagues were told that the Town Hall agreed wholeheartedly about their concerns regarding radiation emissions from five telephone masts erected close to schools and a housing development.

The officials confirmed that they had arranged a meeting with the telephone operators and that the protestors could expect to see the masts removed in the near future. As a result of these assurances the protestors cancelled a demonstration meeting scheduled for April 23rd.

However, the meeting between City Hall officials and the telephone operators appears to have done nothing to allay the fears of local residents living under the shadows of the masts. Mrs. Drago said that no action had been taken to remove any of them. All that has happened is that two of the telephone operators. Optimus and Vodafone, have sent letters to the protest groups stating that radiation emissions from the masts are well within international safety limits and do not pose a health threat.

The letters state that 1,600 studies worldwide prove that mobile phone masts are perfectly safe. They also confirm that the five masts in question have been tested and shown to be well within the World Health Organisation's (WHO) safety guidelines. According to one of the letters, radiation emissions from telephone masts are less dangerous than those from hair dryers, TV or microwave ovens. The May 2000 UK Government Stewart Report is also referred to as giving a clean bill of health to cell phones and telephone masts. Teresa Drago has sent a 17-page reply refuting the claims made by the operators.

The Portugal News has discussed the claims made in the letters with leading experts on the health effects of cell phone radiation. Les Wilson, managing director of London based Microshield Industries, said that the Stewart Report called for safety exclusion zones to be erected around telephone masts and also advised against children using cell phones - points ignored by Vodafone.

Professor George Carlo of Washington DC, USA, pointed out that the 1,600 studies mentioned in one of the letters were no doubt carried out several years ago and are now out of date compared to more recent studies, which prove that cell phones and masts are health hazards. The same applies to the WHO's guidelines. He added that many of these studies were sponsored by the cell phone industry - hardly a platform for impartiality. In the early 1990's the Professor was fired by his US mobile phone sponsors after he published a report stating that radiation emissions from cell phones were a serious health danger.

Teresa Drago and her fellow protestors are determined to continue their fight to have the masts removed. A public meeting held in Tavira City Hall on May 22nd again called upon the Mayor, Mac rio Correia, to protect residents by forcing the telephone operators to remove the masts. They repeated requests for him to explain why the masts were allowed to be erected without the necessary local planning permission - a question he has failed to answer on numerous occasions.

 http://www.grn.es/electropolucio/drago01.htm

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Study suggests hazard in City-County building basement
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By Kate Nash

Some city and county employees who work at desks in the basement of the Downtown government building are exposed to as much or more electromagnetic energy on an average day than electric generation plant operators or television repair people, a report found.

The study was commissioned by a law firm suing the city and the county over what it says are occupational hazards produced by high electromagnetic fields in the former offices of the Bernalillo County assessor.

Levels measured in some parts of the basement of City Hall far exceed those at which people have been known to contract certain types of cancer, according to Santa Barbara, California-based Sage Associates Environmental Consultants, which did the study for the Bregman Law Firm. The firm is representing former employees who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"In a normal office, people don't expect these levels, unless they are electricians or electric workers," said Cindy Sage, owner of the group hired by attorney Sam Bregman to measure electromagnetic fields in the area. "Those guys go into that job and accept or expect that. But the people in the city and county don't. There's no implied consent (to be exposed), "she said.

The study, conducted July 24, is the second to be done in the City-County Building after Bregman filed the lawsuit in June. The plaintiffs - Arthur Slater and James Monta¤o - say high levels of electromagnetic waves inside the basement caused their cancer, a type which is rare in men. The basement, which is now home to part of the city's Public Works Department and the county Treasurer's Office, used to house the Assessor's Office.

According to Sage and the report, released Monday, the basement offices have magnetic fields that were measured at five to 10 milligauss at desk level and between 10 and 100 milligauss at the floor level in various parts of the basement. An average home has a level of one milligauss, Sage said. An average office has between one and two, she said.
Chronic exposure to levels between two and five milligauss have been known to cause certain cancers, she said. And the results, Sage said, mean it would be prudent to move the employees who work there out of the area.

The building's electrical distribution unit is located in the basement, city officials said. "Some offices in Public Works and the County Treasurer's Office are probably unsuitable for continued occupancy where magnetic field spot measurements at desks or in center-of-room are chronically and significantly elevated above typical office levels," her report states.

But plans to do so aren't in the works right now, city officials said.

Anna Lamberson, the city's director of Finance and Administrative Services, who oversees building maintenance and security, said the numbers found by Bregman's study and the city's study aren't far apart. "The one thing that does strike me is the numbers are fairly similar. I don't think that's been lost on anybody," Lamberson said. "What's different is the interpretation. We have the interpretation from who we believe to be the expert." Bregman, however, said Sage is also an expert.

The city's report, which the city says is more comprehensive, showed magnetism levels that ranged from four to nine milligauss in parts of the Treasurer's Office and four to 16 in parts of the Public Works Department. The average field measurements across the area as a whole typically averaged about one milligauss, the report states. "In our report, OSHA said we didn't violate any OSHA standards, and they are not going to come down and visit," Lamberson said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the federal agency charged with establishing and enforcing workplace safety standards.

However, the city's report did list action it can take to make the offices more comfortable. "That's what we intend to do," Lamberson said, listing improvements to the ventilation system, improvements to some drywall areas and carpet replacement as some examples.

County officials declined to comment, and a county spokeswoman said she hadn't seen the Sage report. According to the city's report - done by Mountain West Technical Associates and Enertech - the conditions don't violate OSHA standards. But it notes there are no state or national standards for exposure to electromagnetic frequencies.

However, Sage said the state of California recently labeled electromagnetic frequencies as a carcinogen. "We now have sufficient evidence to declare that EMFs are a carcinogen," she said.

In the meantime, Bregman, a former city councilor, said his case, which is in the discovery phrase, continues to grow. Bregman said "five to ten people have contacted me who have serious health problems or whose relatives have serious health problems and want to look at this (case)."

 http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news01/073101_news_basement.shtml

Source: http://www.grn.es/electropolucio/emf040603.htm

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Letter to some Wisconsin newspapers
-----------------------------------
This is a copy of a letter to the editor which I have sent to some Wisconsin newspapers and several have already indicated that they plan to use it.

Jim Protsman

July 23, 2003

Letter to the Editor

A recent study reported in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied showed that people talking on cell phones, whether handheld or handsfree, during simulated driving tests, had reduced reaction time, causing them to run more red lights and to react more slowly to other vehicles than was true for people who were not using a cell phone.

Cell phone use is usually banned in hospitals because radiation from these devices interferes with electronic monitoring devices that can cause them to shut down or give false readings. In a Mayo Clinic study, recently reported in The New York Times, it was shown that the farther away a cell phone is from such an electronic device, the less likely the chance of interference.

The human brain is a very sensitive electronic organ. When it is near a cell phone, which is a powerful emitter of radiofrequency electromagnetic energy, nerve signals in the body's nervous system significantly slow down. This means a falling off of brain function, including reaction time and all cognitive skills. The cell phone does not have to be on for this to happen, just nearby (within a foot or two), because even when turned off a cell phone continues to radiate electromagnetic energy.

There is a simple brain speed test that measures the adverse effect of a cell phone on brain function. If I hold a cell phone in my hand, or have one in a pocket, or close to me, I cannot count as fast, nor read as fast, as when there is no cell phone near me.

To test for counting speed, all I need to do is count to 50 as fast as I can (silently in my head) when holding a cell phone, and time myself with a second hand on a timepiece. Then I repeat the counting test, this time at least five feet away from the cell phone. I can count about 10-15% faster when not in contact with the cell phone. During the second part of this test I should not be near any other electronic devices.

When counting speed drops, so does every other brain function. Hence it is better not to use a cell phone when driving, or to even be near one. You will be a better driver. New York has banned the use of cell phones by drivers, and Wisconsin should seriously consider doing the same.

Sincerely,

James Protsman

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Re: Is This hypocrisy,Conflict of interests,or What??
-----------------------------------------------------
Hi Klaus.

I happen to favor addition of cannibis to the list of prescribable narcotics for pain or whatever else it might help.

Note that inhalation of marijuana smoke probably is not a good delivery route, because the combustion products probably are dangerous to the health, as are tobacco combustion products. One would expect about the same lung cancer . . ..

I don't know whether yet another intoxicant is the right solution for anything, though.


John Michael Williams

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Whale numbers disputed
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Pre-whaling population estimates upset conservationists.
25 July 2003 TOM CLARKE

A new study estimating the original size of North Atlantic whale populations - before whaling took its toll - is being heavily criticized by researchers. Yet it backs the case for a continued ban on whale hunting.

The genetic analysis suggests that about 12 times more humpback and fin whales once cruised the ocean compared with previous estimates1. This was before their wholesale slaughter began in the nineteenth century.

Today's relatively small whale populations should be protected for another 50-100 years before they are large enough to allow resumption of commercial whaling, argues Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University in California who did the analysis...

see further:  http://www.nature.com/nsu/030721/030721-14.html