Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: any science to this?



Hi all-
There is something to the claim. Don't stand for extended periods
in front of a 3 cm (wavelength) shipboard radar. If you do, you may go
blind.
Regards,
Jack



On Sat, 1 Nov 2003, John Clement wrote:

I once reviewed some evidence for low frequency electromagnetic radia=
tion
and found that the statistics were so poor that one could not come up=
with
any evidence for harm. That particular flap has now been forgotten. =
Of
course this does not say anything about high frequency radiation. I =
think
it should be noted that high frequency radiation is all around us, an=
d that
a cell phone subjects you to much higher levels than a laptop would. =
Notice
the citing of 400 articles. Essentially this is like saying that bec=
ause
400 people agree their opinion becomes a fact. I would ask "what is =
the
quality of the articles". How many of them were published in referee=
d
journals? How many of the summaries just repeat other summaries and
articles?

=20

There may be a small grain of truth in harmful effects from ambient E=
M
radiation, but I have not seen any serious evidence for it. I know t=
hat one
of the bigger hazards to children is hot dogs. However I have not he=
ard of
any parent groups campaigning to ban them because of the choking haza=
rd.

=20

After skimming the cited evidence, there is certainly evidence for ef=
fects,
but the significance is hard to quantify. Some references showed har=
mful
effects at high intensity, but not at low intensity. A good example =
of an
ambiguous reference is number 6 which pointed out that no causal
relationship could be established from that one study. There seem to=
be
some decent studies which may point to possible harm. However, if th=
is is
true then we must shut down all of the TV and radio transmitters, bec=
ause
some of the studies implicated them. Incidentally some studies found=
an
increasing childhood leukemia, but not in more common cancers. This =
is very
strange because childhood leukemia is of such low incidence that it t=
he
statistics on it are very low. I suspect that some researchers are n=
ot
doing the statistics right. The ELF flap was over childhood leukemia=
and
the statistical evidence was not there.

=20

Of course the available negative articles were not in the summary. I=
would
like to see a good metastudy of the available evidence. With a varie=
ty of
effects which are just barely perceptible, a large scale study or met=
astudy
is needed to quantify the exact magnitude of the harm. Often when th=
is is
done the evidence for harm statistically evaporates, or the amount of
possible harm is so low that it is less than the background. =20

=20

John M. Clement

Houston, TX

=20

=20

=46rom a legal briefs notice by the National School Board Association=
:

=20


Technology
A group of parents in Oak Park Elementary School District 97 (Ill.) h=
as
filed a class action lawsuit in state court claiming that the wireles=
s
network installed by the district is harmful to their children. The s=
uit,
which legal experts believe is the first of its kind, claims that the
district installed the wireless local network in the classrooms despi=
te a
"body of evidence" that finds exposure to high-frequency electromagne=
tic
radiation to be especially harmful to children. The plaintiffs' compl=
aint
alleges that there are "more than 400 scientific articles, summaries,=
and
references outlining the health risks from low-intensity radio freque=
ncy
radiation exposure." The plaintiffs also accuse the district of refus=
ing to
invite experts to explain the available research. The district, throu=
gh
spokeswoman Gail Crantz, responded that it found the allegations "cur=
ious,"
because over a two-year period both sides had several experts testify=
and
the board concluded that wireless technologies are safe. While other =
school
districts that have installed wireless networks have found no harmful
effects, some experts in the field argue that parents' concerns shoul=
d be
taken seriously. Bob Moore, executive director of information technol=
ogy at
the Blue Valley Unified School District (Kan.), believes that "[s]cho=
ols
need to do their homework and be well informed about the implementati=
on of
any new technology, Wi-Fi included." Oak Park is continuing to use it=
s
wireless network, even though the plaintiffs requested the district s=
hut it
down until the district can prove it poses no health or safety risk.

eSchool News
By Cara Branigan
[Link <http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStorytw.cfm?ArticleID=3D47=
12> to
full story]

[Editor's Note: The complaint, with appendices detailing studies on
electromagnetic radiation, is available below.]

[Legal complaint <http://www.nsba.org/cosa2/wireless.pdf> ]





C 2003 National School Boards Association
1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 838-6722 Fax: (703) 683-7590 E-mail: info@nsba.org


--
"Don't push the river, it flows by itself"
Frederick Perls