Hi everybody:
Be sure you read this!!!!! [Guru offers one comment, in the text,
thus.]
New Scientific Evidence Reawakens Concerns About Electromagnetic Fields Generated by Power Lines, Household Electrical Wiring and Appliance Usage
ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Two new studies reawaken concerns about the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). This research, which was conducted by collaborating scientists from Hughes Institute, St. Paul, Minn.; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.; University of California, Riverside, Calif.; Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; and Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi, Japan, will be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, official journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The first report will appear in the February 13, 1998 issue and the second in April, 1998.
Conducted under the aegis of a research grant award from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (grant number R01-ES-07175), the studies provide conclusive evidence that inside cells electromagnetic fields can activate certain signaling pathways that have been associated with cancer. Specifically, it was discovered that the products of cancer promoting genes known as Src tyrosine kinases are rapidly activated by EMF exposure. The functions of other key cellular elements facilitating the cancer-promoting function of these tyrosine kinases also seem to be amplified five- to ten- fold. In addition, the results of these studies demonstrate that EMF may alter biochemical events inside the elements of the immune system that determine our susceptibility to infections.
These studies are the first to shed light on the possible mechanism for the long-suspected albeit controversial links between EMF exposure and cancer risk. A number of epidemiologic studies suggested the possibility that EMF radiation from power lines, household electrical wiring and appliance usage may contribute to the risk of childhood leukemia. Recent reports showed that living in homes characterized by high measured time-weighted average magnetic field levels or by the highest wire-code category does not increase the risk of leukemia in children.
***[Many of you will realize that in the above paragraph the reporter must have lifted some of the words from the original NCI (Linet study) press release..... As subsequent analysis showed ... the press release was wrong!!! The Linet study DID show an association at the 3 mG level and above.... And, of course, the problem with having based the study on a "time weighted MF average" (the assumed EMF exposure) _never was addressed_ by a science group that was simply too embarrassed to deal with it.... guru]
However, concerns regarding other forms of EMF exposure remain. It is thought that EMF may participate in the production of leukemia by influencing the proliferation, survival, and/or differentiation programs of leukemia cells.
The results of these studies reawaken concerns and urge more research, awareness and public discussion about the potential risks of electromagnetic field exposure. For technical information, contact the corresponding senior author, Dr. Faith Uckun, Hughes Chair in Oncology, Hughes Institute, by paging him at 800-670-0268.
References:
Dibirdik I, Kristupaitis D, Kurosaki T, Tuel-Ahlgren L, Chu A, Pond D, Tuong D, Luben R, Uckun FM. Stimulation of Src family protein tyrosine kinases as a proximal and mandatory step for SYK kinase-dependent phospholipase C Gamma 2 activation in lymphoma B-cells exposed to low energy electromagnetic fields. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 273:4035-4039, 1998
Kristupaitis D, Dibirdik I, Vassilev A, Mahajam S, Kurosaki T, Chu A, Tuel- Ahlgren L, Tuong D, Pond D, Luben R, Uckun FM. Electromagnetic field-induced stimulation of bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). Journal of Biological Chemistry. in press, 1998.
SOURCE Wayne Hughes Institute, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@llion.org