Learn About EMFs

Here is an excerpt from an article, written by Taraka Serano and courtesy of EMF-Health.com, on two recent studies conducted in Germany and Isreal regarding cell phone tower radiation. The German study found that people living near cell phone towers have a 3X greater risk of developing cancer.“Several doctors living in Southern Germany city of Naila conducted a study to assess the risk of mobile phone radiation. Their researh examined whether population living close to two transmitter antennas installed in 1993 and 1997 in Naila had increased risk of cancer.

Data was gathered from nearly 1,000 patients who had been residing at the same address during the entire observation period of 10 years. The social differences are small, with no ethnic diversity. There is no heavy industry, and in the inner area there are neither high voltage cable nor electric trains. The average ages of the residents are similar in both the inner and outer areas.

What they found is quite telling: the proportion of newly developed cancer cases was three times higher among those who had lived during the past ten years at a distance of up to 400m (about 1300 feet) from the cellular transmitter site, compared to those living further away. They also revealed that the patients fell ill on average 8 years earlier.

Computer simulation and measurements used in the study both show that radiation in the inner area (within 400m) is 100 times higher compared to the outer area, mainly due to additional emissions coming from the secondary lobes of the transmitter.

Looking at only the first 5 years, there was no significant increased risk of getting cancer in the inner area. However, for the period 1999 to 2004, the odds ratio for getting cancer was 3.38 in the inner area compared to the outer area. Breast cancer topped the list, with an average age of 50.8 year compared with 69.9 years in the outer area, but cancers of the prostate, pancreas, bowel, skin melanoma, lung and blood cancer were all increased.”©Taraka Serano

The Isreali study, conducted by Tel Aviv University, found that people living near cell phone towers had a 4x greater risk of developing cancer.

“Another study, this one from Israel’s Tel Aviv University, examined 622 people living near a cell-phone transmitter station for 3-7 years who were patients in one clinic in Netanya and compared them against 1,222 control patients from a nearby clinic. Participants were very closely matched in environment, workplace and occupational characteristics. The people in the first group live within a half circle of 350m (1148 feet) radius from the transmitter, which came into service in July 1996.

The results were startling. Out of the 622 exposed patients, 8 cases of different kinds of cancer were diagnosed in a period of just one year (July 1997 to June 1998): 3 cases of breast cancer, one of ovarian cancer, lung cancer, Hodgkin’s disease (cancer of the lymphatic system), osteoid osteoma (bone tumour) and kidney cancer. This compares with 2 per 1 222 in the matched controls of the nearby clinic. The relative risk of cancer was 4.15 for those living near the cell-phone transmitter compared with the entire population of Israel.

Women were more susceptible. As seven out of eight cancer cases were women, the relative cancer rates for females were 10.5 for those living near the transmitter station and 0.6 for the controls relative for the whole town of Netanya. One year after the close of the study, 8 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the microwave exposed area and two in the control area.”©Taraka Serano

While independently funded studies continue to prove a link between cell phone tower radiation and cancer, the official word from government agencies is that the emitted levels of radiation from cell phone towers are too low to pose any health risk.

©Rebecca Moon 2007