This information needs to go to all parents, schools and kids hospitals; anywhere where there are kids. Do we really understand what we are exposing our kids to and the potential consequences? Do we debate it and look at possible alternative options?
Dr Alison Bleaney

US Congressional hearing on Cell Phone Health Effects
Convened by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

September 25, 2008
http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov/schedule.asp

Please take time to watch this important video of the Congressional hearing.  The overall views are supportive with regards to our concerns, especially for children and mobile phones.  The opening speech by Mrs Marks was very moving, she testified on behalf of her husband and gave a detailed and devastating account about his slow growing brain tumour in the area of the brain which controls the part of the brain that differentiates between good and bad, right and wrong and controls impulses. Mr. Marks suffered with personality changes and depression years before the brain tumour was diagnosed which they believe was due to using a mobile phone.

The Radiation Research Trust conference - update

On 8th & 9th September http://www.radiationresearch.org/conference/ continues to attract an incredible amount of news around the globe.  Attention has focused on Lennart Hardell, Professor of Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden and the Swedish team’s research indicating children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones. I would like to draw your attention to direct quotes with regards to brain tumours and children taken from some of the PowerPoint presentations from Professor Hardell, Lloyd Morgan, Professor Yury Grigoriev and Dr. David Carpenter.

Professor Lennart Hardell concluded his presentation saying: “there is a consistent pattern of increased risk for acoustic neuroma & glioma after 10 years ipsilateral mobile phone use.  Current standard for exposure to microwaves during mobile phone use is not safe for long term tumour risks and needs to be revised.”

David O. Carpenter, M.D, Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany & Co-Author of the Bioinititive Report has given evidence at the USA Congressional hearing. He also presented at the Radiation Research Trust Conference in London and said “Swedish studies show elevated brain cancer & acoustic neuromas in individuals using a mobile phone for 10 + years.  Israeli studies show parotid gland cancers in heavy mobile phone users.  There is overwhelming evidence that in general children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental exposures.  Unfortunately children are major users of all phones in today’s culture.”

Professor Yury GRIGORIEV, Chairman of the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, Russia.  Professor Grigoriev gave a powerful presentation with regards to children.  He said:  “The potential risk to children’s health is very high and a completely new problem. Use of mobile phones for those under 18 or pregnant should be restricted.  Children have a unique vulnerability as they grow and develop; there are “windows of susceptibility” periods when their organs and systems may be particularly sensitive to the effect of certain environmental threats.  The existing standards cannot guarantee the safe, healthy development of the next generation.”

Lloyd Morgan, Director of the Central Brain Tumour Registry of the United States (USA) also gave a presentation at the Radiation Research Trust conference. Based on a 30 year latency time for brain tumours, he projects there could be up to 1.6 million mobile phone brain tumours in the USA by 2019. At a treatment cost of $250K per patient, this would cost $400 Billion.  It would also require 32-fold more neurosurgeons eleven years from now.

Also please read enclosed important statement from ICNIRP Chairman, Paolo Vecchia , see below:

What the ICNIRP guidelines are not:

Mandatory Prescriptions for safety

The “last word” on the issue

Defensive walls for Industry or others

What if long term effects were established?

If available data permit the identification of an adverse effect, but not the detection of a threshold, other risk reducing strategies will have to be used.

Another note:

ICNIRP should also attempt to analyse the risk in terms of levels of consequences that could be quantified.  The acceptability of such risks would,
however, be based also on social and economic considerations, and as such fall outside the remit of ICNIRP.”

This statement makes it clear that the decision is political and we need the policy makers to take urgent action to adopt biologically based guidelines and not rely on thermal levels only such as the 1998 ICNIRP recommendations.