Royal Society of London Meeting on BioInitiative Report and the Urgent Need for New Biologically-Based Public Exposure Limits

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Safety is not assured, nor is it even likely under safety limits for electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that were originally designed for short-term exposures and never anticipated the new wireless world. A meeting this week at the Royal Society of London organized by Coghill Research Labs previewed the results of the newly released BioInitiative Report (www.bioinitiative.org). Experts from the fields of cancer, immunology, public health and environmental policy who authored the BioInitiative Report presented scientific evidence in support of an urgent call for new biologically-based public exposure standards to deal with pulsed radiofrequency and microwave radiation from cell phones and towers that transmit the signals (masts). The Report also recommends a thousand-fold lower limit for children exposed to electric energy sources like appliances and power lines.

At the Royal Society conference, BioInitiative co-editor Cindy Sage of Sage Associates summarized the scientific evidence from the Report documenting the inadequacy of existing international public safety standards. Brain tumor specialist Dr. Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD and Professor at University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden spoke on his BioInitiative chapter on brain tumors and acoustic neuromas. His work on cell phones, cordless phones and brain tumors is widely recognized to be pivotal in the debate about the safety of wireless radiofrequency and microwave radiation. Olle Johansson, PhD, Karolinska Institute and BioInitiative Report author presented on EMR effects on immune function and electrical hypersensitivity.

The world’s safety limits are out of date and irrelevant for chronic exposures to low-level EMR since they did not anticipate the advent of a wireless world, with new forms of pulsed radiation that widely affect populations 24-hours a day. Today’s wireless environment virtually layers all of us with multiple exposures that appear to cause health effects that may include chronic illness and death. The use of cell phones is linked to increased risk of brain tumors and acoustic neuromas with 10 or more years of use, and the evidence for exposure to EMF (from power lines and appliances) points to genetic damage, several childhood and adult cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

Several other speakers chronicled life-changing illnesses that occurred following the erection of masts near their homes. Electrical hypersensitivity - which can be debilitating - is thought to result from large changes in the immune system caused by continuing exposure to artificial EMR, leading to chronic inflammation and allergic responses. Estimates reach from 3% to 10% of populations in the UK, other European and the Nordic countries.