[AMRadio] Electromagnetic allergies

[John Lyles]

Its true that there are physiological phenomena that indicate some 
effects from RF power exposure. In very controlled experiments with 
rabbits, mice and other creatures, exposure to significant doses of EM 
fields have caused things like audible clicks in hearing, and calcium 
ions crossing cell barriers. And these are not necessarily thermally 
caused, which is the normal effect of high RF (dielectric heating). It 
may be that there are magnetic field effects, somehow coupling into 
something in the body. It has been published that there are effects from 
powerline fields that have affected bee/honey production under right of 
ways. There is a lot of evidence that migrating birds have some sort of 
compass-like response to the geomagnetic (static) fields. These two are 
examples of weak-field effects, that have been observed and reported.

The study of exposure to RF, power frequency, and magnetic fields,like 
chemical and radiation exposure studies, take years of rigorous 
experiments, to rule out other secondary effects from things like light, 
airborne material, natural radiation, personal bias in subjects, and on 
and on. There were studies in Sweden years ago that indicated that 
people in homes built near power lines or with particular wiring 
configurations were prone to increased risk of cancer. That landmark 
study excited a lot of people including realtors, hard-core 
environmentalists, and what I would call anti-technologists. It also 
made a big impact on the EM field research community. However, over time 
it was never repeatable and is no-longer considered valid except in the 
eyes of those who wanted that positive result. This is an example of a 
bias towards a particular answer.

That said, however, the results of a study that identified 100% positive 
results from weak RF fields, is likely not real science that can be 
repeated. It has not been  scrutinized or published in any refereed 
scientific journals or forums, like Nature, Science, AMA. I would be 
curious to see and read of such experiments.

I heard recently that one state (Maine?) has a recommendation under 
development on exposure to cellphones in nearfield. In certain European 
countries, similar recommendations have been publicly made, focused on 
children and weaker adults. These are not scientific results, but are 
decisions based on prudent judgement, believing that there MAY BE 
effects which are not yet known. This is not a bad thing for society to 
do, considering the mistakes that have been made in past NOT making such 
decisions, asbestos, radium, cigarettes, various chemical toxins, and so 
on.

So while I wouldn't completely rule out that there is some weak-field 
effect of RF exposure that we haven't discovered, it is so difficult to 
prove without all the underlying other environmental factors. Personally 
I tend to poo-poo the wackos and wierdos who claim that they get 
migraines and cannot sleep in the house next door to someone with a 
television or cellphone. And i do not attribute this to political 
conviction such as some here have used, but strictly based on what I 
know about the science and studies. I have been in high power RF work 
for my entire career (>30yrs) and have paid attention to these things, 
including reading and researching many of the reports and articles about 
RF exposure. I do believe that 800 MHz-1.9 GHz watt-level cellphones 
being held next to the brain, is not a smart thing for humans to do, and 
that we have to somehow change that or we may indeed find long term 
detrimental societal consequences. This is not a weak field effect, but 
a near field hazard.

Arthur and Dr. Elke in Santa Fe are not what I consider to be examples 
of normality. They are on the fringe. We have so many people that come 
here from (guess where, Texas and California!), that we can now call it 
the land of fruit and nuts instead of the 'city different'. Touche!

73
John
K5PRO