A mans war on EMF radiation

John Patterson was a successful cell antenna engineer that became ill from over-exposure to the harmful radio waves that are emitted by the towers. He tried to warn the governing authorities about the dangers of living too close to the towers but no one paid attention and he was fired when he started to tell the public. 

No one in the media would listen to him, so in July 2007, John Patterson decided to take the extreme measure of driving a friends tank through a number of transmitter installations, and was subsequently arrested, charged and jailed for 20 months. If this reminds you of Greenpeace activism it's unfortunate that this man had to go to these extremes to get the media to take notice of them. In this case his story made nationwide publicity in Austrailia.

Upon his release John has decided to carry on in the telecommunication industry but now makes a career of bringing awareness to this issue by measuring the harmful electromagnetic fields in peoples homes and offices.

COSMOS - Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health

The cohort study on mobile communications (COSMOS) forms part of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme. The international study will run for 20-30 years and will follow the health of at least 250,000 participants aged 18-69 in five European countries. The UK arm of COSMOS is being led by a research team from Imperial College London.

There are currently over six billion mobile phone devices in use worldwide, with over 70 million in use in the UK, which has a population of 61 million people.

Studies of short term use of mobile phones and health have been reassuring, other than well known associations with risk of motor accidents. However, there are still some uncertainties about the health effects of mobile phone use, since some diseases take many years to develop and so far few people have been using mobile phones for that period of time.

Dr Mireille Toledano, co-Principal Investigator of the study from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: "For the benefit of current users and for future generations, it is important for us to carry out long-term health monitoring of a large group of mobile phone users so that we can identify if there are any possible health effects from this new and widespread technology that has become so central to our everyday lives."

Professor Paul Elliott, Principal Investigator of the study from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: "Scientists have been looking at the effects of mobile phones on health for several years and so far, reviews of the research have been reassuring with respect to mobile phone use and health problems in the short term. However, as mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short time, we haven't been able to carry out long-term studies until now.

The Imperial team aims to recruit 100,000 mobile phone users to the COSMOS study

"COSMOS aims to fill in important gaps in our knowledge of mobile phones and health. By looking at large numbers of people across Europe over a long period of time, we should be able to build up a valuable picture of whether or not there is any link between mobile phone use and health problems over the long term," added Professor Elliott.

Through four major mobile phone operators, the COSMOS project team from Imperial College London is inviting 2.4 million mobile phone users in the UK to take part in the study.

"We can only do this study and find out whether mobile phones are affecting our health in the long term with the help of the public willing to take part. Through contributing a small amount of time to this study, participants will make a big difference to our understanding of mobile phones and health. Anyone who wants to find out more and get in touch with us can visit our website at www.ukcosmos.org," said Dr Toledano.

Participants who agree to take part in the study will complete an on-line questionnaire about their mobile phone use, health and lifestyle. The researchers will monitor participants' mobile phone use and any health problems they might develop, e.g., cancers and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, for at least the next 20 years. They will also analyse whether any changes in the frequency of symptoms, such as headaches and sleep disorders, are related to mobile phone usage.

"Over the past decade, mobile phones have become a normal part of everyday life for the majority of people in Britain. The COSMOS study is the largest research study worldwide investigating mobile phone use and health and is a very important step towards finding out whether there are health implications of using a mobile phone over a long period of time," said Dr Toledano.

Professor Lawrie Challis from the MTHR Programme Management Committee said "We still cannot rule out the possibility that mobile phone use causes cancer. The balance of present evidence does not suggest it does but we need to be sure. The best way of doing this is through a large cohort study such as COSMOS and I am very pleased that the UK is to play an important part in this international endeavour."

Source: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_22-4-2010-13-52-53

More info: http://www.ukcosmos.org/aboutus.html

The 20 highest radiation producing cell phones in the United States

This is a list compiled by the technology website CNET of the 20 mobile phones producing the highest radiation in the USA as of October 2012.  A cell phone's SAR, or its Specific Absorption Rate, is a measure of the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy absorbed by the body when using the handset.  In the United States, its maximum SAR level must be 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the level is capped at 2 watts per kilogram, while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6 watts per kilogram.

Rank	Model	SAR (digital)	Carrier
1	RIM BlackBerry Curve 9310	1.58	Boost Mobile
2	Motorola Razr HD	1.56	Verizon Wireless
2a	Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD	1.56	Verizon Wireless
4	Nokia Astound	1.53	T-Mobile
5	RIM BlackBerry Curve 9350	1.5	Sprint Nextel
6	Nokia Lumia 900	1.49	AT&T
7	Motorola Defy XT	1.48	U.S. Cellular
7a	HTC Trophy	1.48	Verizon Wireless
9	Motorola Atrix 4G	1.47	AT&T
9a	RIM BlackBerry Curve 9360	1.47	T-Mobile
11	ZTE Score M	1.45	MetroPCS
11a	ZTE Score	1.45	Cricket Wireless
11b	Motorola Droid Razr	1.45	Verizon Wireless
11c	Motorola Droid Razr Maxx	1.45	Verizon Wireless
15	RIM BlackBerry Torch 9810	1.44	AT&T
16	Samsung Rugby Pro	1.42	AT&T
17	ZTE T-Mobile Concord	1.38	T-Mobile
17a	RIM BlackBerry Bold 9930	1.38	Verizon Wireless
19	Motorola Atrix HD	1.34	AT&T
20	Motorola Droid Razr M	1.3	Verizon Wireless

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-6602_7-291-2.html

Italian court rules mobile phones can cause tumours

It’s not often I’ll refer to rag newspapers like the Sun from the UK, but it has an interesting and important story I wanted to share with you.

MOBILE phones CAN cause brain tumours, according to a landmark court ruling.

Italian businessman Innocente Marcolini, 60, fell ill after using a handset at work for up to six hours every day for 12 years.  Now Italy’s Supreme Court in Rome has blamed his phone. Experts have predicted a flood of legal actions from victims.  Stricken Mr Marcolini last night warned: “People must be told the risks.”

He was diagnosed with a brain tumour after complaining of head and chin pains.

And yesterday his country’s Supreme Court stated there was a “causal link” between his heavy phone use and the growth.  British scientists have claimed there is insufficient evidence to prove any link to mobiles.  But after the Rome court ruling, Mr Marcolini said: “This is significant for very many people. I wanted this problem to become public because many people still do not know the risks.  “I was on the phone, usually the mobile, for at least five or six hours every day at work. I wanted it recognised that there was a link between my illness and the use of mobile and cordless phones.  “Parents need to know their children are at risk of this illness.”

Respected oncologist and professor of environmental mutagenesis Angelo Gino Levis gave evidence for Mr Marcolini — along with neurosurgeon Dr Giuseppe Grasso.  They said electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile and cordless phones can damage cells, making tumours more likely. Prof Levis told The Sun: “The court decision is extremely important. It finally officially recognises the link.  “It’ll open not a road but a motorway to legal actions by victims. We’re considering a class action.  “Tumours due to radiation may not appear for 15 years, so three to five-year studies don’t find them.  “We’ll only realise in years to come the damage phones can cause children.” Mr Marcolini’s tumour was discovered in the trigeminal nerve — close to where the phone touched his head. It is benign but threatened to kill him as it spread to the carotid artery, the major vessel carrying blood to his brain.

His face was left paralysed and he takes daily morphine for pain.  Alasdair Philips of Powerwatch, which campaigns for more research on mobile use, said: “This is an interesting case and proves the need for more studies.  “People should limit mobile and cordless use until we know more.”  The World Health Organisation urged limits on mobile use last year, calling them a Class B carcinogen. But a spokesman for Britain’s Health Protection Agency said: “The scientific consensus is that mobile phones do not cause cancer.”  International radiation biology expert Michael Repacholi said: “Studies show no evidence of cancer. But if you are worried, use a headset, hands-free or loudspeaker.”  Media lawyer Mark Stephens said the verdict could “open the floodgates” — even though there is no direct obligation on British courts to follow the Italians’ lead.  He said: “It is possible people will begin legal action here, but I think the chances of success are less. I think they’ll join any class action in Italy.”

Jury out for last 12yrs on EMF radiation from mobile phones:

May 2000: Government’s Stewart Report warns kids to avoid mobiles due to unknown effects of microwave radiation.

October 2005: British Journal of Cancer says no substantial risk of brain tumours in first ten years of mobile use.

October 2007: Britain’s Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme finds no link to ill health.

May 2011: Council of Europe warns mobiles should be banned from classrooms over “potentially harmful” effects.

June 2012: World Health Organisation says “some” cancer risk.

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4597109/Mobiles-can-give-you-a-tumour-court-rules.html#ixzz2O4l9mOVY

Electromagnetic Radiation what is it?

What is Radioactivity?

I have described both Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation at different points in this blog; I have given a lot of information concerning Electromagnetic Fields, but none on Electromagnetic Radiation bar what is immediately relevant. So this post will center on Electromagnetic Radiation, its effects and how it differs from Electromagnetic Fields.

To start with, Electromagnetic Radiation is a very specific form of Electromagnetic field, which is produced by many differing sources. The main source of cosmic background radiation is the electromagnetic radiation produced by the sun and other stars; however there are many more producers of electromagnetic radiation, most being fairly surprising household items, some of the producers are as follows.

• Television: A television produces a form of Electromagnetic radiation, this was briefly described in the post “How to protect yourself from electromagnetic stress”, the same type of Radiation wave is also produced by a computer screen.
• Radio-waves: The largest generator of Radio-waves in the current world is the cell phone, which can cause damage to minor cells by rapidly heating them.
• Infrared: Much like Radio-waves, Infrared waves heat cells they pass through.
• Ultraviolet Light: Ultraviolet rays are the main causers of Sunburn, which has been proven as one of the largest causers of skin cancer.
• X-rays: X-rays have been known to cause damage to reproductive cells, making it harder for the cells in your body to proliferate and recreate.

Each form of Radiation can be told apart via the length of the Radiation wave. As I mentioned earlier the Sun and many other Stars produce forms of electromagnetic radiation and the only thing stopping it from affecting us is our atmosphere. You see our atmosphere is made up of several layers, each of which block out various forms of cosmic radiation, the Ozone, for example, blocks out a large amount of ultraviolet radiation.

This won't happen trust me.

All electromagnetic radiation waves have differing effects on the human body; with most of the effects being incredible dangerous, if not deadly, I will list a few here:

• The Protein in your skin alters; Out of over 580 different proteins, multiple tests demonstrated 2 proteins were heavily altered over time.
• Many forms of Electromagnetic radiation that involve thermal energy can cause untold brain damage, steadily heating the smaller cells in the brain.
• Leukemia cells show signs of increased growth at a rapid rate when exposed to radiation.
• Brain tumors are shown to develop with more ease in irradiated environments.
• High levels of radiation can cause early mutations in undeveloped babies, leading to miscarriages.

In addition, the damage caused by Electromagnetic Radiation is far more immediate than that caused by Electromagnetic Fields, leading to being more closely monitored. Electromagnetic Radiation damages our bodies in several ways; certain Radiation waves cause your cells ability to repair themselves to fail, meaning that as damage is done to the cell, it cannot properly repair itself causing further cell degeneration. Other forms of Radiation block the electrical signals that travel between cells, which can lead to alterations in the way certain cells work by blocking or altering their receptors and therefore altering the nutrients and proteins sent to each cell.

An example of Infrared

In short, Electromagnetic energy is created when electrons or photons are accelerated to high speeds, and travel as waves. All levels of the electromagnetic spectrum are utilized in your day to day activities; however they are used at such low frequencies it would take generations of continuous exposure to damage your cells by even 1%, so there is no immediate need to panic.

• Radio-waves are used to send and receive information in the form of sound and images to your television or radio daily.
• Microwaves are one of the most efficient ways to cook food in a short period of time, in addition a mobile phone can produce microwaves when a phone call is made or received.
• Heat in all its forms is created via infrared radiation, so whenever two humans hug, there’s a burst of infrared radiation.
• Visible light radiation is another form of Electromagnetic energy, which is ever so slightly important, as it allows you to see.
• Without Ultraviolet radiation, most forensic sciences would not exist, as without Ultraviolet light, they would be unable to see key elements of some crime scenes, e.g. bodily fluids.
• X-rays are invaluable in medical science for obvious reasons, without them we would not be able to detect certain illnesses with the precision we currently can.
• Most full body scans used by hospitals utilize Gamma radiation to permeate the body and detect any anomalies, without them, most people would never be diagnosed.

As you can see, whilst electromagnetic radiation has the potential to be dangerous, it is also invaluable to human life, without it we wouldn't even be able to see! As an electromagnetic field is a static field that aids in the rapid spread of certain Radiation particles (Like Visible light radiation) we can also start to see how, whilst EMF’s have the potential to harm us, they also have the potential to help us. Electromagnetic Waves are, in a sense, the ultimate double edged sword.

I hope this has been informative and you have enjoyed reading. 

How to protect yourself from Electromagnetic stress

I am a stressed man, and who can blame me? I have a kid on the way, trying to manage all my debts and at the same time I read and write about all the dangers radiation and EMF pose to us. In addition to this, I’m pretty sure all of the excess Electromagnetic energy being produced can’t be doing much good.

Let’s think about it for a minute, ten years ago, there was hardly any wireless technology out, the occasional phone and television remote being the only things that immediately pop into mind, as well as the few overhead power cables.

Now, let’s compare that to these days, we have Mobile phones, Mp3 Players and Laptops all of which are producing electromagnetic fields. A tangle of wires hang over our heads, telephone cables, power lines and the such, all leaking their own EMF’s. Towering telephone masts and Cell phone towers loom over us, showering us with radiation. In short, compared to then, there is so much more technology projecting waves that damage us on a cellular level.

I’m not sure about anyone else, but ten years ago, I felt much healthier and a lot less stressed (this may have been because I was 10 but who knows…) now a possible cause of all this is the aforementioned EMF, which constantly bombard our bodies. These fields actively attack our cells, damaging them on a molecular level, causing us to become fatigued, our metabolism to slow and lower our resistances to disease. And because of all this we become more and more stressed, so they key to alleviating this stress falls into making our bodies more resistant to the damage these EMF’s are unavoidably doing.

The most obvious way to combat the damage is to minimize the amount of time we expose ourselves to these EMF’s. By spending less time using our phones and other wireless electronics, we can decrease strength of EMF’s we are exposed to.

As an example, I play a lot of video games, mainly on the Xbox, so I was regularly holding onto a wireless controller for several hours on end, when I started to read about EMF’s however I immediately went out and bought a wired control. It wasn't much, but I did feel a very slight improvement in my health, whereas I used to feel run down after a couple of hours of playing, I now felt fine, well worth the money.

Another obvious way of minimizing the strength of the EMF’s, is to make sure you live far away from Cell phone towers and other powerful EMF producers, it may seem a trivial matter but it will make all the difference. In addition, by wearing magnetic jewellery you can help to counteract some EMF fields, a simple magnetic bracelet can make a world of difference.

You know how metal conducts electricity correct? Well

many of us have metal filling, and the EMF’s react with them the way you would expect it to. When the EMF passes through your body, the metallic fillings conduct trace amounts of the electromagnetic pulse, and does so repeatedly, gathering its own EMF overtime, producing it in your own mouth and I need not describe how that is damaging. If you can have these replaced with tooth-colored composite fillings, you should as it will lead to less damage from EMF overtime.

By improving your immune system your cells will naturally be more resistant to the damage the EMF’s will do. There are dozens of ways to improve your natural immune system, drinking lots of water and eating raw vegetables are both simple ways to give yourself a little boost. Upping your vitamin intake will help in more ways than one, as will taking several Probiotics over the course of a week.

To continue on the theme of Probiotics, the bodily stress caused by the EMF’s will cause your body to power through the good bacteria in your body, causing you to become more and more susceptible to diseases and illnesses, so by using Probiotics you can replenish the good bacteria at rate that should hopefully match the rate that the EMF’s cause them to die off.

When your body is regularly hit by powerful EMF’s it causes the micro-organisms in your body to produce an excess of neurotoxins as a response to the mass of minor infections your body has to start to defend itself against and due to the prior damage already caused, your body cannot cope with the mass of neurotoxins now flooding your system. So be sure to regularly purge your body of toxins, or the build up will cause further cell determination which in turn causes your body to create more neurotoxins, a never ending cycle.

Remember when your parents used to say, “Don’t sit to close to the TV, or your eyes will go square” well, they weren't far off. Newer televisions produce a much stronger EMF’s than older televisions, so sitting further away will cause the EMF produced by the TV to deal less damage to your body. The same idea also goes for computer screens, even now as I write this I’m leaning back in my chair, a kind of unconscious way of minimizing the damage done, other than sitting across the room of course.

As I mentioned in my previous post “Is an Apple that healthy?” your room should be one of the cleanest areas in your home, both physically and on a molecular level. So here are a few tips to decrease the amount of Radiation and the strength of the EMF’s in your room:

• Remove any electrical wires than run under your bed.
• Avoid having wireless devices in your room.
• Substitute automatic electronic devices for manual non-electronic variants.
• Swap any cordless phones for corded versions.

So with only a few alterations in your room, you can massively alter the strength of the EMF’s where you sleep. Never underestimate the damage that can be done whilst you sleep, because you aren't moving the EMF’s affect you far more directly, damaging the cells over the time you sleep.

With a few of these changes, you should be able to lessen the amount of EMF that effect you, which will be minimize the damage the done by the electromagnetic fields that run rampant across our landscapes. On a secondary note, there have been proven methods that can minimize or sometimes even neutralize EMF’s harmful effects, so in time, a more widespread way of neutralize the damage may become available. But until then, I hope the tips I have given you prove to be helpful!

Microwave Ovens and Your Health

How Unhealthy Are Microwave Ovens?

Microwave ovens and their health implications are a highly emotive topic.  There are many myths and stories floating around the internet, some designed to placate us, other intended to shock and scare us.  But what is the truth about microwave ovens and their effects on our health?

A bit of history

Percy Spencer, an American self-taught engineer from Howland, Maine, worked at the time with the defense contractor Raytheon. He was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a Mr. Goodbar chocolate bar he had in his pocket had started to melt - the radar had melted his chocolate bar with microwaves.  In late 1945, Raytheon filed a US patent for Spencer's microwave cooking-process, but it wasn't until the mid-seventies that popularity began to grow for the RadaRange and handful of other microwaves on the market.

How do they work?

Microwave ovens heat food by bombarding it with electromagnetic radiation in the microwave spectrum causing polarized molecules in the food to rotate and build up thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating.

Safety Concerns & Controversy

The safety of microwaves tends to center on three key areas;

1) whether microwaves deplete vitamins from food.

2) radiation concerns.

3) the effects of food storage items like certain plastics and styro foam when microwaved.

Vitamin Retention

In an article entitled, Microwave Ovens Destroy the Nutritional Value of Your Food, author Mike Adams attests that microwave ovens are responsible for many nutritional deficiencies and health problems. According to Adams, microwaved food is “dead food” and essentially nutritionally destitute. However his article doesn’t cite any sources or studies for this claim.

The Harvard Medical School, says that cooking vegetables in your microwave actually causes them to retain more vitamins than if you boil them in water. This would infer that microwaves are a more healthy cooking method than stove-top. (Although, steaming veggies is indisputably better than boiling, as the nutrients are not leached into the water.)

Radiation

According to the USDA Microwave FAQ  microwaves do not make food radioactive. “Microwave energy uses a wave length similar to television, radio waves, electric shavers and radar…. X-rays and nuclear radiation are at the other end of the spectrum and are a million times more powerful.”  Of course there is also concern that microwaves can leak radiation. However, studies show that this isn't the case and that appliances are designed to stop producing radiation once the door is opened. Quite obviously, don’t operate a microwave if the door is broken and it’s probably prudent not to stand close to the microwave whilst it is operating, as low dose microwaves have been found to effect soft tissues in the eyes and testes.

Wrappers & Containers

There are a number of containers and wrappers that shouldn't be used in microwave ovens.  The USDA has a great list of microwave safe materials.

Safe To Use:

• Any utensil labeled for microwave use.
• Heatproof glass (such as Pyrex, Anchor Hocking, etc.).
• Glass-ceramic (such as Corning Ware).
• Oven cooking bags.
• Baskets (straw and wood) for quick warm-ups of rolls or bread. Line the basket with napkins to absorb moisture from food.
• Most paper plates, towels, napkins and bags. For optimal safety use white, unprinted materials.
• Wax paper, parchment paper, heavy plastic wrap. Do not allow plastic wrap to touch food; vent it to allow a steam escape.
• Heat-susceptible packaging.

NOT Safe To Use:

• Cold storage containers: margarine tubs, cottage cheese and yogurt cartons, etc. These materials are not approved for cooking and chemicals can migrate into food.
• Brown paper bags and newspapers.
• Metal pans.
• Foam-insulated cups, bowls, plates or trays.
• China with metallic paint or trim.
• Chinese "take-out" containers with metal handles.
• Metal "twist ties" on package wrapping.
• Food completely wrapped in aluminum foil.
• Food cooked in any container or packaging that has warped or melted during heating.

Conclusion

Microwave ovens do not harm your food or indeed irradiate it!  The ovens also don’t irradiate you either, however we think it common sense not to stand right next to it while it’s cooking!

Common sense dictates you should let your food cool for a minute at least after cooking as the temperatures food reaches can be very high and very hot.

And be sure to keep you oven in good repair, and if you find the door broken, don’t try and bodge a repair, just get a new oven!