EFFECTS OF MOBILE PHONE RADIATION TO MAN'S HEALTH
1. It is perfectly true that the levels of microwave radiation in publicly
accessible locations near GSM and
TETRA Base-stations
comply, by many factors of 1000, with the current safety guidelines set by the
International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) [
1].
These limits are, however, purely thermally based - i.e. they simply limit the
intensity of the radiation to ensure that the amount of tissue heating by
absorption of microwave radiation is not in excess of what the body’s
thermoregulatory mechanism can cope with. If heating were the only effect of the
radiation, existing guidelines would afford the public adequate protection
against the emissions of Base-stations; unfortunately, however, this is not the
case. For microwaves are simply one particular realisation of electromagnetic
radiation (visible light being another, relative to which microwaves lie on the
far side of the infrared) and, as such, have properties other than solely
intensity. In particular, the pulsed microwave radiation used in the GSM and
TETRA systems of telecommunication has a number of rather well-defined
frequencies, which, in at least two quite distinct ways, entail the possibility
of non-thermal effects.
2. Firstly, although microwave radiation is non-ionising i.e. has
insufficient energy (energy being proportional to frequency) to break chemical
bonds, thereby producing electrically charged ions it does have enough energy to
be able to effect subtle conformational changes, whereby molecular
‘architecture’ can be sufficiently altered that certain biochemical processes
are affected - even those that are apparently not contingent on aliveness, such
as the increased leakage of calcium from brain tissue, which has been reported,
in vitro, under exposure to radio frequency and microwave radiation that is (sinusoidally)
amplitude modulated at certain low frequencies, in particular, 16Hz (See Para.5
below).
3. The second, more interesting, possibility is of an ‘informational’
non-thermal influence allied to the fact that the alive human organism as a
whole itself supports (but only when alive) a variety of oscillatory electrical
biological/ biochemical activities, each characterised by a specific frequency,
some of which happen to be close to those found in the GSM/TETRA signals - a
coincidence that makes these bioactivities potentially vulnerable to being
affected in various ways [2]. Since these activities are
involved in bio-communication and in the control and regulation of bioprocesses
essential to well-being, it is reasonable to anticipate that it is the
functionality of the alive organism that is impaired by exposure to radiation of
sub-thermal intensity containing bioactive frequencies. Experience in the case
of exposure to GSM radiation suggests that the interference is with bioprocesses
that would otherwise afford a natural protection against adverse health effects
This contrasts strongly with the situation at thermal levels where actual
material damage to DNA, cells and tissue can occur. It is to be stressed again,
however, that unlike heating, non-thermal influences of an informational kind
are possible only when the organism is alive: the Dead have no electrical brain
activity, for example, with which an external electromagnetic field can
interfere! The existence of endogenous biological oscillatory electrical
activities thus makes the living organism an electromagnetic instrument of great
and exquisite sensitivity that is able - by decoding (demodulating) its various
frequency characteristics, including those of any (lower frequency) amplitude
modulations - to ‘recognise’ and discern the presence of external
electromagnetic fields and radiation ‘informationally’, and so be affected in a
purely non-thermal way.
4. The frequency of the radiation that is used to carry (by appropriate
modulations) the voice information (messages) in both GSM and TETRA lies in the
microwave band - a frequency range in which there is some evidence (particularly
at higher frequencies [3]) that processes as fundamental as
cell division can be interfered with in various ways - the somewhat lower
carrier frequencies characterising the radiation used in TETRA facilitating its
deeper penetration into tissue. On the other hand, the rates at which the
microwaves are emitted in distinct groups of flashes (or pulses) happen to be
close to the frequencies of some of the brain’s own electrical and
electrochemical rhythms; accordingly, these can be (resonantly) amplified
(perhaps to a biologically unacceptably high level), interfered with (similar to
the case of radio reception), and even entrained by the radiation i.e. forced to
operate at frequencies that are ‘unnatural’, in that they differ from those that
characterise the natural rhythms of the body, thereby possibly compromising
homeostasis. In GSM, the basic ‘flash rate’ is 217Hz; these flashes are,
however, emitted in groups of 25 (each group being defined by the absence of the
26th flash) at the rate of 8.34Hz a frequency lying in the range of the human
alpha brain wave activity. In the case of TETRA, on the other hand, the nature
of the Base-station pulsing is somewhat different, but is again described by low
frequencies that are here close to 70Hz and 17Hz the latter characterising the
much more accentuated pulsing of the emissions of vehicularly mounted
transmitters.
5. 17Hz is very close to the frequency (16Hz) at which radio-frequency
/microwave radiation of sub-thermal intensities that is amplitude modulated in
various ways - in particular, continuously (sinusoidally) and discontinuously
(pulsed) - is reported, mainly under in vitro conditions, to cause: (i) a
significant increase in loss (efflux) of calcium from brain cells, which is,
however, reproducible only under certain exposure conditions [4],
and which occurs even in the case of dead brain tissue; since calcium triggers
release of neurotransmitters, any disturbance in the delicate balance of this
chemical could well upset the integrity of the nervous (and also the immune)
system; (ii) increased levels [5] of Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC),
a (rate limiting) enzyme that plays an important role in DNA replication, and
possibly also in cancer promotion (see Para.9); (iii) opposing (and thus
possibly stress inducing) effects [6] on the principal
inhibitory and excitatory neuro-mediating brain chemicals that underpin the
activity of the central nervous system. In addition, it should further be noted
that the TETRA frame repetition rate is also close to the frequency at which
seizures can be provoked in people suffering from photosensitive epilepsy by
exposure to a light, flashing at between 15-20 times per second (see Para.8).
6. More disturbing is that the low frequencies that characterise the
GSM/TETRA pulsing are close to those at which it is known that human mood and
behaviour can be influenced in a number of ways (ranging from
depression/docility to rage), depending on the kind/ frequency of modulation
used [7], it being
actually possible to induce sounds, and even words, intercranially by
appropriate modulations of the microwave signal [8].
7. What the Mobile Phone Industry and the various national governmental
Regulatory Bodies (such as the NRPB in the UK) dispute is that the very weak,
pulsed microwave radiation used in GSM and TETRA exerts any non-thermal
biological influences that entail adverse health reactions. Their conviction
that, provided the intensity of the radiation complies with the ICNIRP safety
guidelines, human exposure to this kind of radiation is innocuous derives,
however, firstly, from the erroneous belief that electromagnetic fields should
be regarded as toxins to the body - rather than an integral feature of its alive
state and, secondly, from an outdated ‘linear’ mindset that prejudices the
conclusion that exposure to weak radiation (below guideline levels) can entail
only correspondingly weak effects, and vice versa. The invalidity of the latter
is clearly indicated by the existence of the ‘informational’ influences referred
to above, which, being contingent on our aliveness, are inherently non-linear
effects i.e. they depend not only on the electromagnetic field to which a
subject is exposed, but also on the state of the individual at the time of
exposure: any attempt to understand such effects from a purely linear
perspective is thus doomed, in that it is unable to address the most
discriminating feature of all, namely, the ‘aliveness’ of the system under
consideration.
8. ‘Official’ reviews of published research (such as the Stewart Report of
the IEGMP [10], the Zmirou Report [11]
commissioned by the French government, and the NRPB’s report on TETRA [12])
fail to adequately address the issue of electromagnetic sensitivities that are
contingent on aliveness, and are regrettably characterised by a consistent
tendency to put the most negative possible ‘spin’ on any positive results (that
are suggestive of, or consistent with, possible health problems) - demanding
further corroboration before accepting them - or to reject them either on the
grounds that, in their opinion, the experiments are flawed for one reason or
another, or because of difficulties in identifying credible mechanisms for the
(disputed) observed effects. Whilst such scepticism is, of course, healthy and
essential to the progress of reliable science, care must, at the same time, be
taken to ensure that valuable indicators of potential positive effects are not
missed (or prematurely dismissed), and equally, that negative findings
(consistent with the safety of the technology) are not automatically deemed
exempt from similar scrutiny: at present, there is a definite bias towards
regarding any positive results as ‘false positives’, whilst rarely considering
the possibility of ‘false negatives’ a dangerous and totally unacceptable state
of affairs that is geared to promote a quite unjustified and unrealistic sense
of security.
9. The importance of ensuring non-thermal electromagnetic compatibility
between mobile phone radiation and energised electronic equipment, such as that
in aircraft and hospitals is, of course, generally accepted and respected.
Ironically, however, the same does not yet obtain in the case of the alive human
organism, despite (i) the fact that the latter is itself an electromagnetic
instrument par excellence, which, as already mentioned, can detect
electromagnetic fields that are millions of times weaker than those to which the
public is exposed by GSM/TETRA Base-stations, (ii) the existence of a wide
variety of non-thermal bio-effects induced by low intensity microwave radiation
(both pulsed and non-pulsed) that have been revealed by many experiments,
enjoying varying degrees of corroboration, which have been performed over the
last 30 years on many different kinds of biosystems - ranging from cells in
test-tubes to the entire living human organism most of which have been published
in international, peer reviewed scientific journals [13].
10. Whilst the occurrence of non-thermal effects does not, of course,
necessarily entail any adverse health consequences, there is, nevertheless, a
disturbing consistency between some of these non-thermal bioeffects and the
nature of some of the adverse health reactions reported both by certain users of
mobile phones and by certain people (involuntarily) exposed long-term to the
radiation from GSM Base-stations [2]. Of particular concern is
the way in which this radiation (non-thermally) affects brain function
specifically, its electrical activity (EEG), its electro-chemistry, and the
blood/ brain barrier - and degrades the immune system. Thus, for example, the
radiation is known to (i) disturb the delicate balance of chemicals in the brain
in particular, the dopamine-opiate system - and (ii) to increase the
permeability of the human blood brain barrier (thereby facilitating the passage
of chemical toxins from the blood into brain fluid), both of which are medically
considered to underlie headache, one of the most persistently reported adverse
health effects. Similarly, the duration of REM sleep is shortened by exposure to
radio-frequency radiation, whilst nocturnal secretion of melatonin is partly
inhibited, both of which are consistent with reports of sleep disruption and
concentration problems, and with anecdotal reports of an elevated incidence of
certain cancers in some exposed people; for melatonin is an oncostatic hormone
i.e. a hormone that protects against cancer, particularly in females.
Furthermore, the possibility of deliberately provoking epileptic seizures in
certain animals by exposing them to pulsed microwave radiation is consistent
with reports of an increased incidence of seizures in some epileptic children
when exposed to the emissions of GSM Base-stations. The latter finding is not at
all unreasonable, given the established ability of a visible light (such as that
from a stroboscope) flashing at a rate somewhere between 15-20 times per second
to provoke seizures in the 5% minority of people who suffer from photosensitive
epilepsy. For visible light and microwaves are both simply different
realisations of electromagnetic radiation, and the microwave radiation used in
GSM and TETRA similarly ‘flashes’ (pulses) at rates that the brain is able to
recognise; unlike visible light, however, pulsed microwaves are not reliant on
the eye and optic nerve to access the brain, since they can penetrate the skull
directly.
11. It has already been noted that although microwave radiation is
non-ionising i.e. does not have enough energy to break chemical bonds,
particularly in DNA it can, nevertheless, functionally interfere with the
natural processes involved in DNA replication and repair by subtly altering
molecular conformation (architecture), for example; this could well account,
respectively, for the reports of certain effects observed in vitro, such as
chromosome aberrations/ micronuclei formation and for the increased amount of
DNA fragmentation found under irradiation. Similarly, the in vivo finding that
exposure to pulsed GSM radiation (of an intensity comparable to that realised
during mobile phone use) promotes the development of cancer in mice that have
been genetically engineered to have a predisposition to cancer is consistent
with other (in vitro) studies showing (i) increased levels [5]
of an enzyme (ODC) that has been implicated in tumour promotion, and (ii)
over-expression (in the short-term) of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in both human
and animal cells [15] exposed to GSM radiation; for it has
been hypothesised that over-expression of HSPs inhibits natural programmed cell
death (apoptosis), thereby allowing cells that should have ‘committed suicide’
to continue to live; this hypothesis is currently being tested experimentally [16].
Under-expression (associated with chronic exposure), on the other hand, can
adversely affect the natural repair of DNA breakage. Taken together, these
various effects are, in turn, consistent with (a) the 2-3-fold increase in the
incidence of a rare form of cancer in the periphery of the human brain, where
the penetration of the (electric field component of the) radiation from the
handset is greatest (the laterality of the tumours correlating with that of
handset use), which has been found in a epidemiological study in the USA [17],
and (b) with the increased incidence of cancer amongst users of mobile phones
found in a recently published Swedish epidemiological study [18],
although in both studies it should be noted that, in the majority of cases
considered, exposure was not to (digital) GSM phones, but rather to the somewhat
higher powered, older analogue ones, which, having been available for rather
longer, permit the effects of exposure over a rather longer period to be
studied.
12. It is important to appreciate that the contents of Paras.9-11, which
pertain to exposure to the emissions of GSM handsets, are not irrelevant to the
consideration of the effects of exposure to Base-station radiation, since the
informational content of the latter is the same as that of the phone signals;
indeed, the increasing number of disturbing reports of rather serious adverse
health effects in animals (particularly cattle [19]) exposed
to GSM Base-station radiation could well be valuable warning portents that
should not be ignored; equally, the steadily increasing number of reports [20]
of unexplained clusters of human cancers in the vicinity of certain GSM
Base-stations warrants urgent investigation.
13. It is essential to appreciate, however, in the case of non-thermal
influences contingent on aliveness, that it necessarily follows that not
everyone will be equally susceptible, even when exposed to exactly the same
radiation for exactly the same length of time - susceptibility depending not
only on the radiation, but also on the genetic predisposition and physiological
state of the individual when irradiated, such as the stability of a particular
person’s electrical brain activity and level of stress prior to exposure. Whilst
this admittedly makes the occurrence of non-thermal effects more difficult to
predict (and hence to regulate against) than is the case with thermal effects -
and, of course, undermines the extent to which they can be considered to be
‘established’, in the sense required for them to be eligible for consideration
in safety deliberations - it does not mean that they can be safely ignored, or
that they cannot provoke adverse health reactions in certain people, the
severity of which will again vary from person to person, according to the
robustness of their immune systems. More meaningful is to ask whether there is
an established potential risk to human health from exposure to GSM/TETRA
radiation: the answer is undoubtedly ‘yes’. It is probably true to say that if a
similar degree of risk and uncertainty as to subjective noxiousness obtained in
the case of a new drug or foodstuff, it is unlikely that they would ever be
licensed.
14. Quite apart from their weaker immune systems, pre-adolescent children are
particularly vulnerable - Because of the increased rate at which their cells are dividing (which makes
them more susceptible to genetic damage), and because their nervous system is
still developing - the smaller size of their heads and their thinner skulls
increasing the amount of radiation that they absorb, particularly at 900MHz.
Especially vulnerable to interference by the pulsed microwave radiation used in
GSM is their electrical brain-wave activity, which does not settle into a stable
pattern until puberty. The use of mobile phones by pre-adolescent children is
thus to be strongly discouraged, and the siting of Base-station masts in the
vicinity of schools and nurseries (including those hidden in church towers and
in illuminated signs, such as those at petrol stations, for example) must be
strongly resisted: financial gain must not be allowed to be the overriding
consideration.
15. In connection with Base-station exposure, it must be appreciated that it
is impossible to cite a universally applicable ‘safe distance’. The only
meaningful approach, at present, is to require, in publicly accessible locations
near a mast, that the intensity of the radiation should be below the level at
which any adverse health effects have so far been reported; including an
additional safety factor of 10, a maximum intensity limit of 10nW/cm2 ( = 10-4
W/m2 - equivalent to 0.2V/m) is, in this way, indicated. The precise distance
from a mast at which this level is realised depends, however, on how powerful
are the antennae, their height above ground-level, the orientations of the main
beams and their ‘side lobes’ (subsidiary emissions that are much more localised
in the immediate vicinity of a mast), and the local topography.
16. To cite the examples of radio and television transmissions (to which we
have been exposed for a much longer time than is the case with GSM/TETRA) in an
attempt to support the claim that exposure to the (much less intense) radiation
used in mobile telephony is harmless is flawed on at least three accounts: (i)
the occurrence, in any case, of certain health problems that correlate with
exposure to the radiation from such installations , (ii)
the fact that, unlike that used in GSM/TETRA, the radiation from TV and radio
transmitters is not emitted in pulses, in particular, in patterns characterised
by frequencies that the brain can recognise, and neither are the carrier
frequencies in the (more biologically active) microwave band, and (iii) the beam
morphologies are quite different. Furthermore, before taking reassurance from
the asserted absence of health problems amongst continental users of TETRA, it
should be remembered that it is often the much less biologically active TETRAPOL
system (as opposed to TETRA) that is there used.
17. In conclusion, it can hardly be disputed that to enjoy an acceptable
quality of life requires more than simply an absence of terminal disease.
Adverse health effects in humans of the kinds already reported worldwide such as
headaches, sleep disruption, impairment of short-term memory, etc. - whilst
maybe not life-threatening in themselves, do nevertheless have a debilitating
effect that undoubtedly affects general well-being, and which in the case of
some children could well undermine their neurological and academic development,
as is already evident from experience in the case of a number of infant/junior
schools at which a GSM Base-station is located. It should be stressed, however,
that, to date, the apparent absence on a global scale of more serious
pathologies attributable to exposure to the emissions of GSM/TETRA Base-stations
is no guarantee of immunity in the long-term; indeed, as mentioned earlier in
Para.10, there is already an increasing number of reports [19]
of unexplained clusters of cancers in the vicinity of certain GSM Base-stations,
whose non-involvement remains to be established.
