An international scientific conference was held in Potenza Picena, Italy on April 20, 2013. The meeting was organized by the International Commission on Electromagnetic Safety (http://www.icems.eu). At the conclusion of the meeting, the twelve experts adopted two resolutions based upon the precautionary principle.
The experts reached the following conclusions:
- Radar that uses pulsed radiofrequency (RF) causes biological effects more invasive than non-pulsed EMF;
- RF can cause structural changes in enzymes in nanoseconds, while pulsed RF emitted by radar occurs every milliseconds which suggests that for every pulsing event several enzymatic changes occur;
- the pulsed signals can induce significant modifications in DNA regulation due to methylation of the genome;
- the scientific literature concludes that biological/health effects can occur at low intensity exposure, and chronic exposure can make a living organism more susceptible to EMF effects;
- ICEMS monograph (Eur. J. Oncol., 2010) concludes there are nonthermal mechanisms of action of EMF (including RF) on living matter;
- experiments on cells cultured in residential areas of Potenza Picena showed that radar activates apoptosis for short exposures;
- preliminary results from animal experiments show that RF is a co-carcinogenic agent;
- RF induces oxidative stress in tissues and living organisms;
- epidemiologic studies find significant health risks for people exposed to pulsed RF; more research is needed especially regarding pulsed RF;
- and the scientific literature suggests that the precautionary principle should be applied to EMF internationally.
Thus, stricter safety standards for EMF need to be adopted
by governments and public health agencies because the existing standards are
obsolete and are not based on the recent literature about biological
effects.
According to the precautionary principle, sources of RF should
be reduced to be as low as possible because it is impossible at this time to establish a
safe limit under which no biological effects can be observed.
RF sources should be
kept far from residential areas. For pulsed RF sources, such as radar and Wi-Max
antennas, the distance from the source should be even greater because they
cause more biologic effects than non-pulsed signals.
Wi-Fi should not be
placed in schools and in public areas since it employs pulsed signals.
The precautionary principle suggests the need for special precaution
with younger people and with those susceptible to EMF effects, such as
those with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, a condition found to be increasing in modern
societies that makes people sick from EMF exposure even at low intensity.
The two resolutions are available at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137733972/Potenza-Picena-Scientific-Resolution-Radar-radiofrequency-and-health-risk
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137734801/Resolution-on-the-Radar-in-Potenza-Picena
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137733972/Potenza-Picena-Scientific-Resolution-Radar-radiofrequency-and-health-risk
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137734801/Resolution-on-the-Radar-in-Potenza-Picena
A news report (in Italian) on the meeting is available at: http://www.cronachemaceratesi.it/2013/04/21/dagli-esperti-un-appello-spegnete-il-radar/315390
