Latest Research on Bioelectromagnetics: BioEM2015

Selected Presentations and Papers from BioEM2015

 Annual Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society

Asilomar Conference Center, California, June 14-19, 2015

“As the premier international conference in the area of bioelectromagnetics, BioEM2015 is expected to stimulate further research in this field through the exchange of ideas and lively debate on state-of-the-art knowledge, as well as gaps to be filled.”

“With the increased presence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) in our everyday lives, the meeting aims at presenting and advancing high quality research in basic and applied aspects of bioelectromagnetics to address the medical applications, health concerns, and regulations associated with EMF. BioEM2015 will feature invited plenary talks by world-renowned scientists, a variety of special sessions and panel discussions aligned with the most pressing issues in the field of bioelectromagnetics, as well as informative technical sessions, poster sessions, and social functions.”

In the opening plenary session, Kurt Straif, the head of the Monographs Program at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the WHO will raise the question, "Should IARC's Classification of RF-EMF Invoke the Precautionary Principle?."  

Kenneth Foster, a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania who has been discussing EMF issues since 1971 will argue, "A Case for Precaution in the Application of the Precautionary Principle."  

The rebuttal,"The Precautionary Principle Should be Invoked for RF-EMF," will be provided by Christopher Portier, former Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at CDC.  Prior to his work at CDC, Dr. Portier was the Associate Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at NIH and Associate Director of the National Toxicology Program. Dr. Portier served as the CDC expert on the 31-member IARC expert working group that declared radiofrequency radiation "possibly carcinogenic" to humans in 2011.

The abstracts for a selection of key papers and presentations which have the greatest potential utility for policy makers and the public can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/1IPRgEy.

Experts Adopt Two Resolutions about Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation

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 scientists presented research which found that microwave radiation harms humans and other species. 

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

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