States Assembly | Health and Electromagnetic Fields EU Commission

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Health and

electromagnetic fields

EU-funded research into the impact of electromagnetic fields and mobile telephones on health

The 20th century witnessed an explosion of technological applications that rely on electricity and thus produce electromagnetic fi elds. And there will be even more of these innovative technologies in the 21st century. We cannot avoid this, nor would we wish to, because technology makes our lives healthier, wealthier and safer – it is a major contributor to the economic and social progress that enhances our quality of life.

However, while electric fields have been a vital part of our daily life for over a century now, and have not shown clear evidence of ill effects on health, they are becoming more pervasive. This is seen in the massive growth in the use of mobile telephones – there are 1.6 billion in use today in the world – each one with its own electromagnetic field. This is a subject of growing concern to Europe's citizens who are unsure if

mobile telephones are safe for themselves and their children.

While there is no proven evidence that very weak electric and magnetic fields can affect our health, we have a duty to be sure of this, so that the public and regulators can make informed decisions about their use. For this reason, the European Commissions Directorate-General for Research funds research into the potential health effects of long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields. Because this research is looking for weak effects that could accumulate over a long time period, actions at the European level are particularly eff ective: coordinating new research based on shared knowledge and building co-operation between widespread centres of expertise.

This publication describes the background to research on the health impacts of electromagnetic fields and gives some examples of research projects funded by the Commission. It also places this research in the context of EU policies and initiatives at international level. The European Commission has funded research in this area since 1999 and has proposed to continue it in future RTD Framework Programmes. Only thorough and well-validated scientific research will allow policy-makers and legislators to establish the safety standards that will protect our citizens while allowing technology to continue to improve our quality of life in the future.

Christian Patermann

Director of Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food Research

What are electromagnetic fields?

Electric and magnetic fi elds are all around us – for example, natural electric fi elds in thunderstorms cause lightning to leap across the sky, and man- made electric fi elds are found in the fl uorescent lamps that light our streets. Magnetic fields are also well known to us; the Earth's magnetic fi eld causes a compass needle to point North and helps many birds and fi sh to navigate. These electric and magnetic fi elds are linked because whenever an electric current fl ows in an electric field, then a magnetic fi eld is generated. Together they form an electromagnetic fi eld, or EMF. An example of this is found in our homes, in hi-fi systems, where an electric field, or voltage, drives a varying electric current which produces a varying magnetic

field that causes the speaker cone to vibrate and reproduce sounds.

Electromagnetic fi elds can be described as a series

visible light frequencies, to very high-frequency medical X-rays with wavelengths measured in trillionths of a metre. This range is shown in the electromagnetic spectrum in diagram 1.

The electromagnetic spectrum in diagram 1 shows

a number of important divisions based on the

pofr otheper tdiffies earenndt afrpepqluiceantcioienss. Key points:

The simplest division is into

EMFs occur naturally and they are generated ionising and non-ionising

and used by us for many purposes. electromagnetic radiation.

Ionising radiation includes

Ionising EMFs can break chemical bonds and ultraviolet rays, X-rays and

thus cause radical changes in materials. gamma rays. They are

called ionising' because the

Non-ionising EMFs do not break chemical individual waves can break

bonds, but they can cause heating.

the chemical bonds between

atoms to produce ions. Non-

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EMFs are characte of waves that oscillate at a particular frequency ionising radiation cannot break

frequencies, measur and have a certain distance between one wave chemical bonds; however,

and the next – the wavelength. EMFs have a very it does interact with matter in other ways. In wide range of frequencies, extending from low- particular, it can create a heating effect in materials frequency electricity supply lines with wavelengths if it carries enough energy.

of some hundreds of metres, through the radio and

Diagram 1: The electromagnetic spectrum

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The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuous

ambulance wireless communications, and the

range of frequencies that are measured in hertz

frequencies used for mobile telephones between

(Hz), as explained in box 1. This continuous spec-

800MHz and 1800MHz.

trum is divided according to the use that is made of various parts – for example, the infrared range that is used for TV remote controls, the microwave range used for cooking, and radio-frequency (RF) waves that carry radio and television signals. At the extra-low frequencies (ELF) are the power lines and pylons of the electricity grid that sup- plies electricity to homes and factories. These dif- ferent parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are marked in diagram 1 together with some of their applications.

Box 1

Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz), which is the number of times the electromagnetic field oscillates in one second, so an EMF with a frequency of one megahertz (MHz) oscillates 1 million times per second. Everyday examples include: the electricity supply from a domestic wall plug, which has a frequency of 50Hz, oscillates at 50 times a second; and a 900MHz mobile telephone uses radio waves that oscillate 900 million times per second.

Radio frequencies and microwaves are of particular Electric fields are measured in volts per metre interest when we come to consider the possible (V/m). The strength of electric fi elds decreases effects of EMFs on human health. with the distance from the source, and they can be

blocked by walls, buildings and other materials. Diagram 2 shows more detail of this part of the Commonly occurring magnetic fi elds are meas- electromagnetic spectrum between 100kHz ured in microtesla ( T). One T is a millionth and 10GHz. As the spectrum shows, this range of a tesla, which measures the density of the contains many of the frequencies that are used magnetic fi eld. Magnetic field strengths also de- for communication purposes, such as television crease with distance from their source, but they signals, AM and FM radio broadcasts, police and are not shielded much by walls and buildings.

Diagram 2: The wireless communications spectrum

AM radio

VHF-TV &REQUENCY(Z

FM radio 2ADIO&REQUENCIES -ICROWAVE&REQUENCIES

UHF-TV

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What are the sources of EMF?

Electromagnetic fi elds are all around us and in sunlight. For similar reasons there are recommended everyday life we are all exposed to EMFs from exposure limits for other EMF frequencies, for a variety of sources. There are natural sources example the fi elds emitted by computer screens in such as the Earth's magnetic fi eld and sunlight workplaces. Table 1 shows some common domestic that contains visible, infrared and ultraviolet sources of EMF and the electric and magnetic fi elds frequencies. they generate. It demonstrates that these everyday

sources generate EMFs well below the guidelines There are also many man-made sources of non- of the International Commission on Non-Ionising ionising EMF generated wherever an electrical Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which form the basis current fl ows. In our homes, EMFs arise from for current European Union exposure limits. microwave ovens, hairdryers, the electric wiring

in the house, and remote control devices, among

others. In the workplace, they are generated by

computer screens, industrial electric furnaces,

electric motors, and anti-theft systems. And on the

street, we are bathed in weak EMF from electric

train and tram cables, power lines, radio-frequency

communication antenna for the emergency

services, and now, with the growth of wireless

networks, by EMFs from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth' type

technologies. An important feature is that although Table 1. Typical field strengths

there are many sources, they are very weak. from household appliances compared

to ICNIRP recommended limits

Mobile telephones are a particular source of EMF

that has grown rapidly as people appreciate the Electric appliance Electrical field ICNIRP

many benefi ts they bring to their lives. Mobile strength in volts/ recommended telephone technology generates EMF in two ways: metre at 30cm exposure limit in

first from the antennae that are placed around our volts/metre

cities, towns and motorways; and secondly from Stereo receiver 180 5 000

the telephones themselves which transmit our Electric iron 120 5 000 conversations to the antennae. TEoastlectreric oven 808 5 000

5 000

How these EMFs interact with biological organisms

depends on their energy and frequency. Human Eapplianclectricale Mstraength in gnetic field ICNIRP recommended bodies are transparent to some frequencies and not microtesla at 30cm exposure limit in

to others. For example, sunlight only penetrates skin microtesla deep' and is mostly absorbed, whereas magnetic Electric oven 1 to 50 100

fields can largely pass through the human body. Microwave oven 4 to 8 100

Energy is also important, which is why we put on Vacuum cleaner 2 to 20 100

sunscreen creams to protect ourselves in strong Electric shaver 0.08 to 9 100

EMF: The benefits and concerns

Some of the non-ionising fi elds we encounter and also to the high density of mobile telephone in daily life result from the deliberate use of antennae in our towns and cities. Therefore, the EMF to achieve particular benefi ts. They are question as to whether or not they can damage used extensively in medicine for diagnosis and our health is an important one. The effects of treatment, for example in magnetic resonance long-term exposure to low-intensity EMF are not scanners to study the brain and in irradiation at all well known – and it is exposure to this type for bone repair and cancer treatment. A major of fields that is growing.

indirect source of non-ionising EMFs is the

electricity supply grid that we depend on to light The difficulties in evaluating the eff ects of buildings and streets, to power our kitchens and long-term low-level exposure to potential televisions, and to run the lifts, trains, computers environmental hazards are not new; for example, and industrial machinery that our society needs. the low concentrations of chemical and biological Power stations send electricity through overhead agricultural residues that get into the food chain and underground cables and substations to our have been active research areas for many years. cities, factories and homes – a vital network of A major problem in this research is that the

flowing electric current that generates EMFs all around us.

The fastest growing source of exposure to EMFs is communications, in particular mobile telephony. Although television and radio antennae have been with us for a long time, more recently, the massive growth in mobile telephony is a major success story in which the European GSM standard leads the world. The mobile telephony sector has increased employment in the EU; it has improved personal security, in particular for the young; emergency services are faster; business is more efficient; and it helps fulfil our individual need to communicate when and where we want to, by speech, text message, email, and more recently with images.

A cause for concern?

Exposure to non-ionising electromagnetic fields is unavoidable in today's society and this exposure is growing mainly because of mobile telephones which are held close to the head,

effects can be cumulative; they build up in the body over time. This means that research into the hazards they pose is long-term and painstaking – and it is further complicated when the long- term research is overtaken by new technologies. Much of this research is into the genotoxicity' of ELF and RF-EMF from electricity power lines and mobile telephones respectively. A genotoxin is an agent that can damage DNA and possibly lead to cancer. So far, no convincing links between exposure to low-level EMFs and damage to health have been found.

Awareness of the possible risks of mobile telephones has raised public concern, which has been echoed by the European Parliament. In addition, the spread of antennae through our towns is raising objections, not just for aesthetic reasons but also because of fears about their potential harmful eff ects. While industry has done much to limit the exposure to EMF from telephones and antennae, public fears are delaying the deployment of next-generation mobile telephone systems.

Europe s response to concerns about EMF

Electricity and EMFs bring countless benefits to society. We cannot do without them, yet we do not know the consequences of long- term exposure to EMFs, if indeed there are any. Therefore, research is needed to understand the risks and set appropriate safety standards. Such research forms part of the European Framework Programmes for Research and Technology Development. Eight major projects were funded under the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) between 1998 and 2002, and this funding is continuing in FP6 (2002-2006). The majority of these research projects focus on EMF from mobile telephones and are cancer-related, a smaller number investigate possible effects on hearing, memory and behaviour.

Some examples of these projects are:

The Reflex project studied how low-energy EMF interacts directly with biological materials in the laboratory (in vitro). The researchers showed that exposing cells to ELF and RF electromagnetic fields could cause DNA to break apart and thus affect how cells develop. The key to this project lies in the standardised equipment that the partners, from all over Europe, used to do their experiments. This meant that several partners could independently confirm the experimental results. While these results do not prove that there are hazards from EMFs, they do indicate promising lines of investigation for further work.

The Cemfec project looked at how EMFs might

Research in this field is mainly of three types: in

interact with known cancer-causing chemicals that

vitro research is based on laboratory experiments

can be found in drinking water in minute amounts.

using biological materials, for example, cell

The aim was to assess if the EMF frequencies typical

cultures; in vivo research is performed on

of mobile telephones might have an indirect effect by

living organisms, such as rats or humans. These

increasing the genotoxicity of these environmental

experimental approaches are complemented

carcinogens. In this case, the study found that RF-EMF

by epidemiological research that uses surveys

did not enhance the development of cancer.

and statistics to investigate the occurrence

of disease and its relation to environmental

The Ramp2001 project studies the eff ect of

factors, for example whether a particular cancer

RF-EMF from mobile telephone handsets on the

is more common in people living close to

nervous system, searching for any changes in

communications antennae. A further factor that

memory and behaviour. By correlating experiments

adds to the time-consuming feature of these

with theoretical modelling, the project tries to

research projects is that research results must

identify the mechanisms through which the

be replicated by others to confirm the reliability

nervous system could interact with EMF.

of the conclusions; a single result is not enough.

In addition, the research must be published and

The Guard project investigated the effect on

reviewed so that other researchers can verify or

hearing of long-term exposure to RF-EMF, using

criticise the results.

both animal and human studies.

Interphone, a project led by the International

Member States also fund their own national

Agency for Research on Cancer, is collecting

research programmes on EMFs and health. Many

extensive epidemiological data on mobile telephone

of these programmes are coordinated through the

use and the occurrence of cancers in the head and

EU-funded COST281 framework that coordinates

neck, for example brain tumours. Nine EU Member

the national research programmes on the health

m industry States are participating and parallel studies are running in

implications of mobile telephony of the Member States and other countries. At present, 25 countries

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are cooperating within the COST281 framework.

This research effort is complemented by a large coordination action, EMF-NET, which brings together European and national EMF projects and researchers as a source of expertise and analysis for policy-makers and the general public. The aim of EMF-NET is not to produce new research, but

and public perceptions and therefore

contributes funds to research into the health The Perform-A project is effects of RF-EMF that is guided by the using in vivo experiments WHO international EMF project's research to investigate whether priorities. Industry funding contributions to EMF at mobile telephone national and EU research projects is provided frequencies, whether from in such a way as to ensure complete scientific handsets or antennae, can independence. Worldwide, industry funding directly cause cancer in for EMF-health effects is comparable to animals or promote the spread public funding. of pre-existing tumours.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Science in Germany is coordinating the

six partners who are also performing important work to verify the results of Australian researchers

who found increased cancer incidence in mice exposed to EMF.

the collection and interpretation of existing data from across the world. Given the diffi cult and long- term nature of this research, it is vital that the best use is made of existing information and expertise for the benefi t of all. EMF-NET also supplies a fast- response team' to provide rapid advice to the European Commission on new research results and their relevance to public health and safety issues. EMF-NET also contributes to information activities for the general public. Research into potential health hazards from EMFs has been proposed by the Commission to continue in the Seventh Framework Programme for RTD that will run from 2007 to 2013.

A further group of projects focused on evaluating the potential hazards of EMFs used in the workplace, such as in medical diagnosis and from the pulsed electromagnetic fields produced by security systems employed in access control systems and supermarket checkouts.

Research with broad relevance

The co-operation and coordination of research normal usage conditions, products marketed in groups from across Europe in investigating the the EU meet the exposure limits of the Council potential hazards of EMF supports a number of Recommendation. Further, the Low Voltage Directive EU policy areas, such as consumer and worker and the Radio Equipment and Telecommunication protection and industrial standards. Terminal Equipment Directive apply to equipment

that produces EMFs; and there are a series of European The European Commission's Directorate-General safety standards for the design and installation of for Health and Consumer Aff airs (DG SANCO) base-station antennae. This legislation is managed by proposed EMF exposure limits for the general public the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry.

in 1999 in a recommendation that was adopted by

the Member States. This recommendation is based Legislation for protection in the workplace is on the ICNIRP guidelines (see Table 1) that are provided in a 2004 EU Directive prepared by the supported by WHO , and include a 50 times safety Directorate-General for Employment that sets factor for the general public. The recommendation limits to protect workers from the short-term is targeted at ELF and RF fields in particular and effects of EMF exposure, and requires employers calls for the Member States to promote research to regularly assess and record exposure levels as into the possible carcinogenic hazards of EMF part of their risk assessment obligations.

and for regular reviews of the exposure limits in

the light of new research results. In addition, the In 1996, the World Health Organisation (WHO), recommendation calls for the Member States recognising the rapid growth of public exposure to keep the public informed on risks and the to EMFs and increasing public anxiety and measures being taken to address them. speculation, established the International EMF

Project to assess the potential hazards to health The Joint Research Centre of the European from ELF and RF fi elds and to help initiate new Commission supports DG SANCO's activities research. WHO consolidates research results from through management of the EIS-EMF project the Member States, from EU-funded research coordinating EU and national stakeholders in the projects and from other countries. As well as provision of risk communication advice to public providing a database of EMF research for groups authorities. worldwide, the Organisation also reviews the data

and will produce recommended EMF exposure Since EMFs arise from industrial equipment and limits in 2007.

consumer products, including notably mobile

phones, EU product legislation ensures that, under

Working for a safer environment

The issues arising from exposure to environmental to guide a strategic research agenda that sets electromagnetic fi elds are of intense public priorities and avoids unnecessary duplication. interest, in particular that of whether or not EMF The mobile communications industry is also from mobile telephones can damage health. The contributing to research funding, driven by the research needed to clarify these issues is under need to ensure safety and gain public acceptance way and more will be needed in the future. for new technologies and infrastructures.

Research into the health eff ects of long-term, European funding for research on EMF-induced low-level exposure to environmental agents is health eff ects has been proposed by the difficult. The work itself can take a significant Commission to continue in the Seventh amount of time, which makes it costly. The Framework Programme for RTD that will run effects being investigated are often diffi cult to from 2007 to 2013. This research will be guided by detect in their early stages, and thus the results the knowledge gained in the earlier Framework must be shown to be reproducible, preferably by Programmes, as well as by results from national other laboratories, again adding to the time and and international research efforts. In Europe, the

cost. It is for this reason that a coordinated and co-operative research eff ort is needed to avoid unnecessary duplication and to ensure that each research activity builds on earlier work. This is why research into the health effects of EMF benefits particularly from transnational co-operation.

Pooling energy and resources

In Europe, funding scientifi c research into the health eff ects of EMF exposure involves a broad spectrum of stakeholders. The European Union plays a key role as the long-term, costly nature of this research makes it vital to encourage co- operation and coordination between Member States' research teams to avoid repetition, share knowledge and match research competences. The ability to show the reproducibility of diffi cult experiments between laboratories, and the access

to Europe-wide statistics, are real benefits that EU-funded co-operative research provides. The Member State governments play an important role in funding national initiatives and ensuring these eff orts are complementary to other national research programmes. At international level, the EMF programme of the WHO ensures that research results are shared worldwide and used

general public's exposure to environmental EMFs is currently defi ned by the EMF exposure limits advised by the International Commission on Non- Ionising Radiation Protection. The limits for mobile telephones are shown in table 2.

Table 2. ICNIRP exposure limits for EMF from mobile telephones

Frequency range

Whole body average SAR W/kg

Localised SAR (Head and Trunk) W/kg

Localised SAR (Limbs)

W/kg

10 MHz to 10GHz

0.08

The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measures the amount of energy in watts that a body absorbs per kilogram in an electromagnetic field. For the general public these SAR safety limits have a 50 times safety factor for exposure to EMF from mobile telephones. GSM manufacturers provide public information on the SAR for each of the GSM models they produce

The European Commission is committed to reviewing these exposure limits regularly in the light of new research results taking into account the opinions of its Scientifi c Committees. These reviews will also rely heavily on the advice of the EU-funded scientific groups that are guiding and implementing much of the European research effort.

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Advice Pulsed Fields project:

Do electromagnetic fields generated by security devices have health effects?

While public concern about exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). They momentarily bathe you in an EMF fields has centered on power lines and mobile in order to interact with, and thereby detect, the telephones, other sources have not attracted the same things they are searching you for – metal objects or attention. The Advice Pulsed Fields project looked at a magnetic strips or RFID tags. Operating frequencies family of sources that have been largely overlooked span a spectrum from tens of hertz to several

– security systems that operate by generating pulsed gigahertz. And so, like other EMF sources, there is the electromagnetic fields. potential for adverse eff ects on human health.

Go to the airport to catch a fl ight and you know The Advice Pulsed Fields consortium

you will be scanned at a security gate before you

board. Leave a department store or a library, and the The aim of the Advice Pulsed Fields project was to chances are you will be scanned before you cross the survey pulsed-EMF security-system technologies and threshold. Travel on Taipei's public transport system, produce advice for policy makers in the EU and its and you will be scanned, and if you have a valid travel Member States. The consortium consisted mainly of a card, it will let you onto buses and underground trains group of experts from the International Commission without even asking you to take your smart card out on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). They of your purse. Technical devices capable of searching consulted widely with fellow experts, including several you for things you should or should not be carrying involved in the International EMF project coordinated are on the increase. They're frisking you for payment by the World Health Organization (WHO), and in the cards, stolen goods, weapons, equipment you have US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

no right to remove from your employer's premises

– and all without laying a fi nger on your person. The Advice Pulsed Fields research

The first phase of their work was a wide-ranging review of the technical characteristics of pulsed- EMF security systems and consideration of likely future developments. As part of the data-gathering process, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health organised a workshop in Helsinki, where the project's participants were able to confer with delegates sent by manufacturing companies in the security sector.

In the second and fi nal phase of the project, beginning At the supermarket checkout – an electronic-article- at the Helsinki meeting, the team considered the surveillance (EAS) system known mechanisms by which electromagnetic fields

and biological systems interact and the scientific In the airport, the device responsible is a metal detector. literature on the eff ects of EMF exposure on cultured At the shop or library exit, it is a device for electronic cells, animals, the central nervous system and humans,

article surveillance (EAS). In Taipei's transport system, as well as on electrophysiological stimulation.

it is a device of a smarter kind presently experiencing

rapid sales growth in the surveillance marketplace The team took special care to look into the potential

– a radio-frequency identifi cation (RFID) system. They for interactions between EMFs generated by security vary in their operating principles but these devices systems and medical devices. Although not common, have one thing in common – pulsed electromagnetic damaging interactions of this kind have been

reported by patients and confirmed by scientists in A similar preoccupation with information provision laboratory studies. The devices giving most cause pervades the team's recommendations relating for concern are the implanted and portable ones to the potential for electromagnetic interference used by ambulatory patients, including implanted with medical devices. For one thing, more research defibrillators, heart pacemakers, neurostimulators and is required to increase our understanding of the drug infusion pumps. Unlike hospital patients, whose interactions between EMFs and medical devices. environment is controlled, these patients are liable The team suggested setting up a European forum to come into contact with the same variety of pulsed in which manufacturers of security systems and EMFs generated by security systems as anyone else. medical devices could harmonise their work. For another, they recommended that information The Advice Pulsed Fields results about the EMFs generated by security devices be made public to enable informed choices to be Since early in 2002, when the Advice Pulsed Fields made. The ultimate goal, they suggested, should be team completed their final report1, ICNIRP has complete compatibility between security systems adopted their fi ndings and recommendations and and medical devices. published a summary as an ICNIRP statement2. In general, ICNIRP exposure guidelines were not exceeded. On the characteristics of security systems and devices, comprehensive information was not always available. Because of its importance in assessing public and occupational exposures, increased eff orts at measuring exposure levels were recommended. Another recommendation was that technical information should be provided to purchasers. Information about potential exposure levels should also be routinely taken into account in the design of new systems. Exposure assessment was an area in which the team urged further research, notably to get a better picture of the properties of Project title: human tissues in electric fi elds. Development of advice to the EC on the risk to health of the general public from the use of security and similar devices employing pulsed electromagnetic fields (Advice Pulsed Fields) Project participants: Jürgen Bernhardt, International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), Germany (Coordinator) Ulf Bergqvist, University Linköping, Sweden Frank de Gruijl, University of Leiden, The Netherlands René de Seze, INERIS, France Maila Hietanen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland Gianni Mariutti, National Institute of Health, Italy Ruediger Matthes, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Germany ICNIRP. Possible health risk to the general public from the use Alastair McKinlay, National Radiological Protection Board, of security and similar devices. Report of a Concerted Action United Kingdom within the project: Environment and health, health impact Colin Roy, World Health Organization, Switzerland of electromagnetic fi elds' of the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission. An executive summary is Michael Repacholi, World Health Organization, available free of charge at Switzerland http://www.icnirp.de/documents/ExSummary.pdf. Gyorgy Thuroczy, National institute Radiobiology and ICNIRP statement related to the use of security and similar Radiohygiene, Hungary devices utilising electromagnetic fi elds, Health Physics, Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01214 Volume 87, Number 2, August 2004, available also at http://www.icnirp.de/documents/EASD.pdf Duration: 01-02-2000 to 31-01-2002 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Cemfec project:

Can using a mobile telephone promote the action of chemical carcinogens?

While much research is aimed at uncovering whether EMF from a mobile telephone could act indirectly, as electromagnetic fields transmitted from mobile a cocarcinogen; interacting with small, safe amounts telephones might cause cancers directly, there are more of chemical carcinogens in human bodies in a way indirect mechanisms that could be at work. The Cemfec that promotes their toxicity and initiate cancer. project members worked together to investigate the

more indirect ways that using a GSM could promote the The Cemfec consortium

action of cancer-causing chemicals.

The Cemfec project brought together researchers Mobile telephones transmit radio-frequency from across Europe to investigate whether EMF electromagnetic fi elds (EMFs) to communicate with transmissions from mobile telephones could act the telephone network. Although these are low- as a cocarcinogen. The four-year project was led power devices, the user's body absorbs some of the by researchers from the University of Kuopio in energy in these EMFs, in particular in the region of Finland and included other partners from research the head where the telephone is held. There are organisations in Finland, Germany, Belgium and concerns that long-term exposure to these fields Italy, each of which is active in this research fi eld and could pose health hazards and the risk of cancer brought complementary knowledge and experience

is one of the main issues. Most cancer causing to the consortium.

agents, called carcinogens, act by altering the

genetic code carried by DNA in cells. Since mobile The project partners designed and conducted telephones transmit very weak EMFs, it is unlikely experiments, both in vivo on animals1 (rats) and in that they could directly cause damage to DNA. vitro using laboratory cell cultures. The cell culture However, the general population is exposed to small experiments were done to see if exposure to EMF amounts of known chemical carcinogens, so called and chemical carcinogens could cause cancers environmental carcinogens whose presence in the directly at the cell level, rather than acting on the environment, and particularly in the food chain, is DNA the cells contain. The chemical carcinogen used monitored and strictly controlled at levels that are in the experiments was 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)- believed to be safe. The question arises whether the 5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone, also known as MX for

short. MX is found in chlorinated drinking water all over the world and is an environmental carcinogen that is known to cause several types of cancer in rats when present in large enough concentrations. For the purposes of the Cemfec experiments the concentration of MX was kept low enough to avoid a direct carcinogenic eff ect as it was the interaction of MX with EMF to promote cancers indirectly that the researchers were seeking.

Exposure chambers for rats. The antenna for producing

the electromagnetic field is at the centre of each chamber

and individual cages for 24 rats are located radially 1. All experiments on rats were conducted in compliance with around it the OECD principles of good laboratory practice.

The Cemfec experiments The Cemfec results The experiments involved exposing the rats to MX Based on the observations of the Cemfec researchers, in their drinking water and subjecting them for long the experimental results showed that RF-EMF periods to EMF, for two hours per day at the same exposure typical of mobile telephones did not radio-frequency (900MHz) and low power levels enhance the cancer-causing activity of the MX used in mobile telephone handsets. The in vitro chemical carcinogen widely present in our drinking cell cultures were also exposed to MX and RF-EMF. water. This same conclusion is drawn both from the To ensure that other external factors did not play a animal, as well as the cell culture studies. The Cemfec role in the results, the partners used control groups result supports many of the other animal-based of rats and cell cultures that were not exposed to studies published so far, that show that exposure to MX and RF, or were exposed to just one of these. To the weak RF-EMF typical of mobile telephones does conduct these long-term experiments in a controlled not have a carcinogenic eff ect. manner the consortium constructed special exposure chambers for the rats and cultures to ensure that the EMF and MX exposures were homogeneous and well characterised and that there was a low stress experimental environment for the animals. Project title: Combined eff ects of electromagnetic fi elds with Not all rats are exposed to the MX carcinogen and RF-EMF; others are used environmental carcinogens (Cemfec) as control groups' to eliminate external factors that might influence the interpretation of the results. Project partners: University of Kuopio, Department of Environmental Sciences, Finland (Coordinator) STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Finland Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, Germany The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Belgium University of Genoa, Interuniversity centre for interaction between electromagnetic fields and biosystems, Italy Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01129 Duration: 01-02-2000 to 31-03-2004 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Guard project:

Can digital mobile phones affect hearing?

Most users of mobile phones hold them close to their vibrations to the auditory nerve – are sensitive to many ear during calls, so these organs could be particularly external signals. There is also the potential for RF-EMFs vulnerable to any biological effects that might be caused to reach the central nervous system through the ear.

by the electromagnetic fields radiated by phones. The

Guard project has pioneered investigations into the The Guard consortium

potential effects of digital mobile phones on hearing

through experiments conducted fi rst on live laboratory Knowing the time was ripe for research into this mammals and subsequently on humans. The results will neglected question, nine research-performing prove useful in answering public concerns about cellular organisations joined together in the Guard phones and health. consortium. Through carefully designed, sensitive

experiments, their specifi c aim was to detect any Mobile phones are an integral part of our busy lives changes in hearing associated with low-intensity use in the 21st century, allowing us to keep in touch of GSM mobile phones. The partners were especially with family and friends and to be ever ready to make interested in studying the effects on nerve cells that critical emergency call that may save lives. They involved in the hearing process and did so through have even been credited with transforming the face studies of the auditory eff erent feedback system, of global news broadcasting by enabling ordinary which is involved in the transmission of nerve people to contribute photographs and accounts of impulses back from the brain to the ear.

breaking stories, as the Indian Ocean tsunami and

the London bombings of 2005 vividly demonstrated. Encompassing public health issues intertwined with However, hand in hand with the public enthusiasm modern communications technologies, the project for new-generation mobile phones comes public was an unavoidably interdisciplinary enterprise concern about the biological effects that may be calling on the expertise of specialists in disciplines caused by the radio-frequency electromagnetic fields including biology, biomedicine, engineering and (RF-EMFs) they generate. physics. The partners – research institutes, universities

and hospitals – came from seven European countries. Research funding bodies have responded by Their coordinator was the Istituto di Ingegneria sponsoring scientifi c research into the possible health Biomedica ISIB of the Consiglio Nazionale delle effects of mobile phone use. Yet one area that has been Ricerche in Italy.

little studied until recently is the impact of RF-EMFs

on hearing. It may seem an obvious point of concern The Guard experiments

given the proximity of hand-held devices to the ears,

but research to date has focused to a large extent on In the first part of the project, researchers exposed brain cancers for obvious reasons. Proximity to the ear rats to RF-EMFs at two GSM frequencies, 900 and 1800 is not the only cause for concern, either. For example, MHz, for two hours per day over a period of four weeks

scientists have using loop antennas. They tested the animals' hearing long known that before, during and after the exposure experiments via the hairs of the objective auditory tests. A standard technique in the cochlea – a coiled study of hearing, these tests involve the measurement tube in the inner of otoacoustic emissions – low-intensity sounds ear with an generated by the inner ear in response to an auditory important role in stimulus. The teams also investigated whether RF- the transmission EMFs at mobile-phone frequencies interfere with the of mechanical uptake of chemicals that could have a toxic effect in

Positioning the exposure system during experiments

the ear, in this case the antibiotic gentamicin. Again, attention, however, to a need for further investigation the animals, this time guinea pigs, were subsequently of potential eff ects of GSM mobile phones on the tested for otoacoustic emissions. The researchers also auditory eff erent system and for future research on tested the responses of their auditory brainstem – the eff ects on hearing of RF-EMFs generated by third- nerve pathways in the brain that play a role in hearing. generation mobile-phone systems, which have not yet been studied. Experiments with human volunteers followed, with the team concentrating on effects on the hearing system of normal hearing subjects and in the auditory efferent system. Just before and immediately after the subjects made ten-minute mobile-phone calls, researchers carried out behavioural hearing tests, which require a verbal response from the individual and measurements of otoacoustic emissions. The Nokia Research Center in Helsinki helped in the design of equipment for these experiments. The phone used for the ten-minute calls was a commercially available Nokia model connected to a positioning system allowing it to be held in comfortable proximity to the ear for the duration of the call. The researchers meanwhile Project title: were able to set exposure Potential adverse eff ects of GSM cellular phones on hearing parameters from a (GUARD) PC connected to the Project partners: Exposure positioning system phone. The researchers Istituto di Ingegneria Biomedica ISIB, Consiglio on dummy human head also investigated the Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy (Coordinator) effects of more repeated usage with comparative ENEA – Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e hearing tests carried out on two groups of mobile- l'Ambiente, Italy phone users – a low-use group, whose members used IFnrancstituet National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, mobile phones for less than fi ve minutes per day, Laboratoire neurosciences et systèmes sensoriels, and a high-use group, whose members were on the Université Claude Bernard Lyon, Centre National phone for more than 30 minutes per day. de la Recherche Scientifi que, France University of Southampton, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, United Kingdom The Guard results District General Hospital of Thessaloniki – AHEPA, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The consortium released information about the Greece experiments and their fi ndings to the public, policy- Kaunas University of Medicine, Institute of Biomedical makers and the scientifi c community on the project Research, Laboratory of Neurologic Surgery, Lithuania website 1; as well as in newsletters, at national and National Center of Public Health Frederic Joliot-Curie' international seminars and in workshops. After testing National ResearRadiohygiene, Dch Iepanstitutrtmene ft oor Rf Noadiobiology and n-Ionizing Radiation, a total of 490 animals and 550 humans, the teams Hungary reported that they had detected no adverse eff ects National Research Center for Audiology and Hearing on the hearing of the animals or humans. They drew Rehabilitation, Department of Experimental and Clinical Audiology, Russia Project Reference: QLK4-CT-2001-00150 1. See http://www.guard.polimi.it Duration: 01-01-2002 to 31-12-2004 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Interphone project:

Does exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phones increase the risk of cancer?

Epidemiologists study the occurrence of health eff ects the International Union against Cancer (UICC) as in human populations. Without large samples, sound intermediary, was given and accepted on terms methods and accurate exposure estimates, their results that insulated the research from conflicts of interest. can be ambiguous – a common problem for research Non-EU partners – Australia, Canada, Japan and New on the possible link between mobile phones and Zealand – funded their own studies.

cancer because frequent users of long standing are not

yet numerous. As one of the largest epidemiological The Interphone investigations

studies in this field so far, Interphone is expected to

break new ground. All of the studies were case-control studies and as

such had two essential features1. The first is a study Estimates from market-research companies in 2005 population – for Interphone this covered all subjects place the number of mobile-phone users worldwide aged 30–50 resident during the study period in one at 1.8 billion, equal to the entire world population in of the regions selected, where mobile-phone use 1920. To extend our limited knowledge of the possible was greatest and longest established. The cases' were link between cancer and exposure to radio-frequency patients in the study population who had recently (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in this massive user had a confi rmed diagnosis of one of the three classes population, the multinational Interphone study was of cancer that Interphone is investigating. These launched in 2000. The results are eagerly anticipated are tumours arising in those tissues that absorb the because of the number of long-term users in highest proportion of the RF energy from hand-held Interphone's study population. Observers are hoping mobile phones – the parotid gland, a salivary gland it will bring a decisive clarity denied to previous situated just in front of the ear; glial and meningeal epidemiological research on this question. brain tissues; and the vestibular part of the eighth

cranial nerve near the ear, where tumours called The Interphone consortium acoustic neuromas can occur. For comparison,

the researchers also enrolled for each case one or Coordinated by the World Health Organisation's more non-suff erers randomly drawn from the study International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), population and matching the case in age group, Interphone is a suite of three conjoint multinational gender and residential area. These were the controls'. studies, each concerned with a different class of

tumour. Research teams gathered the data, working The second essential feature is to determine how in parallel in 13 countries using the same common much each case and control has been exposed to EMFs methods and research instruments. Validated from mobile phones. Interphone's approach was to centrally by IARC, the data were then entered into calculate this from information gleaned in computer-

a master database at IARC's headquarters in Lyon, aided interviews with the users themselves conducted France, where analysis is now proceeding. by trained interviewers. They took account of the

user's history of mobile-phone use, any occupational The EU funded the international coordination effort exposure to EMF and other forms of radiation (such and the work of the national research teams in nine as medical X-rays), and medical history. The formula countries – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, used received validation in ancillary research using Italy, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Israel. Additional software-modifi ed phones to collect data on the funds were donated by national and local bodies in distribution of emitted power in different countries, participating countries, and by two trade associations regions and depending on pattern of use.

– the Mobile Manufacturers' Forum and the GSM

Association. Their contributions, channelled through

1. Links to web pages giving further details about Interphone

is available under the heading Residential and occupational exposures to non-ionizing radiation' at http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/RCA4.php

The Interphone results To date, few studies have included enough cases among long-term users to conclude confidently EU funding of the project ended in April 2005 whether or not there is a link between mobile- and analyses of the international dataset are in phone use and brain cancer or acoustic neuroma. progress. Meanwhile, Interphone researchers have The Nordic analysis is the largest study to date. Only published analyses of two national data subsets and through further studies can firm conclusions emerge. a combined analysis of data on acoustic neuromas in With single-country studies generally limited in their the fi ve northern European countries. Of the Danish statistical power, Interphone's ongoing analyses of its analyses on brain tumours and acoustic neuromas, enormous multinational dataset could be decisive. neither found increased tumour incidence due to IARC now estimates that it includes approximately mobile-phone use2. The number of cases who were 1 100 acoustic-neuroma cases, 2 600 glioma, 2 300 long-term users was, however, very small. On the other meningioma and their matched controls – enough hand, acoustic neuromas among regular users were to detect confi dently a 50% risk increase linked to significantly larger on average than among non-users. mobile-phone use beginning five years or more before enrolment. So the eager anticipation of Interphone's The Swedish neuroma analysis did fi nd an increased results is not over yet. incidence linked to phone use – a 90% increase in subjects who started phone use ten or more years before enrolment in the study, rising to 290% (based on 12 cases) when restricting analysis to tumours on the same side of the head as the user's normal phone use (where expected exposure is highest)3. By contrast, the Swedish brain-tumour results showed no increase in risk4. The Nordic combined analyses5 also found no increased risk of neuromas globally among regular mobile- phone users although the possibility of an increased risk among long-term users could not be ruled out. Project title: International case-control studies of cancer risk in relation to mobile telephone use (Interphone) Project partners: International Agency for Research on Cancer, France Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Denmark Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Finland Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, France Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Medizinische Statistik und Dokumentation, Germany The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology & Health Policy, Chaim Sheba Medical Centre, Israel Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy Further details about these results are available at Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Norway http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/RCAg.html and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/RCAd1.html respectively Institute of Cancer Research, Section of Epidemiology, Further details about these results are available at United Kingdom http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/InterphoneSwedish.html University of Leeds, Paediatric Epidemiology Group, Further details about these results are available at United Kingdom http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/RCAh.html Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01563 Further information about these results can be found at http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Units/RCAi.html Duration: 01-02-2000 to 30-04-2005 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Perform-A project:

What can systematic animal studies tell us about the possible link between mobile-phone radiation and cancer?

Since an early Australian animal study linked a apparatus, laboratory practice – some or all of these significant increase in the risk of contracting cancer to factors have varied from one study to the next.

the electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones,

no subsequent study has confirmed it. The Perform- The Perform-A consortium

A consortium attempted to replicate the Australian

study and carried out a further set of animal studies to In response to this dynamic state of aff airs, the understand the possible link in more detail. Perform-A project, led by the Fraunhofer Institute

from Germany, combines two ambitious aims. It In 1997, Australian researchers led by Michael shares its scientifi c aim with many of its predecessors Repacholi published the results of a study that –to clarify whether radio-frequency EMFs cause or has become a landmark for research on the health help cause cancer in animals like rats and mice. The effects of electromagnetic fi elds (EMFs)1. For one other aim is more pragmatic but no less important hour per day over an 18-month period, Repacholi – to set a new standard for research studies of this and his team exposed a strain of transgenic2 mice kind and make a start at embedding consistent, good known as pim1 to electromagnetic fields of the kind practice across the fi eld.

generated by GSM mobile phones. What they found

was not reassuring. The exposure regime multiplied Although not a legal requirement, the consortium's the risk of lymphoma to 2.4 times the normal level. life-science laboratories carried out the Perform-A Lymphomas are cancers aff ecting the lymph nodes. experiments according to Good Laboratory Practice Hodgkin's disease is one example. (GLP). This is a detailed set of principles established

by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Scientific interest in researching the possible link Development (OECD) for laboratory safety studies between long-term EMF exposure and cancer in on pharmaceuticals, chemicals and biological animals soared and more than two dozen such studies substances. Companies in OECD member states who have already been carried out since 1997. Among want to market any of these products are required those that have published their results so far – and by law to comply with GLP in the conduct of their that is the majority – none has found a significant safety studies. The principles are meant to guarantee correlation between EMFs and cancer. that the data they have to submit to the regulatory

authorities are a reliable basis for safety assessments.

Financial support for the Perform-A project came from a handful of sponsors. The European Commission controlled all project fi nancing and contributed just over 25% of the project cost. Some of the remainder came from two mobile-phone industry bodies, the

GSM Association and the Mobile Manufacturers Forum. The Swiss and Austrian governments also donated funds. In an agreement made before the experiments

It is too early however to conclude that no such link began, all sponsors accepted that their funding of the exists. This is a new field of research that has not yet research did not entitle them to privileged access to had time to develop a strong collective identity. Faced the results. Not until all manuscripts disclosing the with common diffi culties, different research groups results were accepted by scientific journals would the have improvised their own individual solutions. sponsors see them.

Experimental design, methodology, laboratory

Repacholi et al, Radiation Research 147(5), pp631-640, 1997

Transgenic mice have externally introduced genes and are used to test the effects of genes on health

The Perform-A experiments The research groups at the German and Swiss laboratories investigated the occurrence and growth There were four sets of experiments, each delegated of cancers in mice and rats respectively. At both sites, to its own specialist life-science laboratory, one each the animals underwent exposure to EMFs at GSM in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. Another frequencies for two hours per day and five days per partner, the Swiss IT'IS foundation, designed an week over the course of two years. The German and exposure system for all four experimental sites that Swiss researchers chose diff erent strains of mice and is capable of delivering a homogeneous whole-body rats to complement the Italian study. dose of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation to all exposed animals. The company also constructed, The Perform-A results installed and operated identical copies of the apparatus at each laboratory. The results will remain confidential until the conclusion of the project at the end of September 2005, by virtue of the confi dentiality agreement between the Perform-A consortium and its sponsors. The date is a timely one. The World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer has plans to begin an evaluation of research on the link between mobile-phone EMFs and cancer in October. Animal room at Fraunhofer ITEM with the exposure system for mice Project title: In vivo research on possible health eff ects of mobile telephones and base stations (carcinogenicity studies Each wheel exposes up to 65 mice, in rodents) (Perform-A) radially arranged around the antenna Project partners: In the Italian laboratory, researchers attempted to replicate Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Föderung der angewandten Forschung e V., Germany (Coordinator) the experiment by Repacholi and his team on pim1 mice, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Laboratory for EMF but under more carefully controlled conditions so as to and Microwave, Switzerland increase the statistical power of the results. The Austrian Österreichisches Forschungszentrum Seibersdorf GmbH, group looked at the effect of EMF exposure on female rats Department of Life Sciences, Austria in which breast cancers had already been induced by a RCC Ltd, Switzerland known carcinogen. They were subjected to a daily four- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Radiocommunications hour exposure for six months. The aim was to advance Laboratory, Department of Physics, Greece understanding of how EMF exposure might infl uence the Istituto di Ricerche Biomediche "A. Marxer" – RBM S.p.a, Italy incidence, growth, latency and the malignancy or non- Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01476 malignancy of the tumours. Duration: 01-03-2000 to 30-09-2005 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Ramp2001 project:

Can long-term use of mobile phones cause adverse non-thermal effects in brain or nerve cells?

There is no scientifi c consensus on the biological Moreover, the long latency period of many illnesses effects of prolonged exposure to radio-frequency that could be linked to RF exposure means that electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs). One question that experts cannot be certain that long-term use of remains unanswered is whether exposure to RF-EMFs mobile phones does not harm the development and within current safety limits can nevertheless cause functioning of the nervous system.

cellular or molecular changes in the brain or nervous

system that are not due to heating of the tissues. The Ramp2001 team is seeking answers to this question.

Mobile-phone calls are carried by radio waves. While a call is in progress, they transport signals in both directions between the handset and the nearest base Microphotograph of an astrocyte: astrocytes

station in the operator's network. They also have a (cells of the nervous system) from rat brains are used side effect, though. The user's body inevitably absorbs to test for effects of RF-EMF

some of the waves, where they cause heating in the

body tissue. It is not a large eff ect. Manufacturers design phones to operate with a low radio-frequency output power to maximise battery life. However, a user typically holds the phone right up against his or her head during calls. Since the EMF is most intense near the handset antenna, the power absorbed by the head A Rota-rod, used for testing the diff erences in rat could be non-trivial were it not for safety regulations. behaviour with or without exposure to RF irradiation Too large a rise in the temperature of brain tissue would

be harmful if sustained for long enough.

Advisory and regulatory bodies, both national and international, have set safety standards. They express them in terms of the specific absorption rate (SAR) index. That is the rate at which one kilogram of body mass absorbs radio-frequency energy. Fixed at one An electromagnetic cell used for exposure of nervous cells

tenth of the SAR value that causes a 1°C temperature tpoo RsiFti-oEnMe Fd . Nat e rth voe u b so st yto stm em o f c t eh lle s s at rr eu cc utu ltr ie vated in dishes rise in the body, the safety limits are binding on all

mobile-phone manufacturers.

The Ramp2001 consortium

Virtually all mobile phones have remained well within

the prevailing safety limits, even after reductions The Ramp2001 project is a contribution to the in the limits were introduced, as has happened on concerted eff ort that is needed to answer today's occasion. But a growing number of research studies uncertainties about non-thermal effects. The partners are beginning to undermine faith in them. The also foresee the project's results feeding into future research suggests that low-frequency RF fields may revisions of safety standards. Through experiments on have biological eff ects unrelated to heating. Although animals and artifi cial cell cultures, they are studying many in the scientifi c community and industry dispute the biological eff ects of short- and long-term RF-EMF the relevance of the research, some groups argue that exposure of brain and nerve cells (neurons), especially non-thermal eff ects warrant further investigation. any non-thermal eff ects.

The team combines diverse scientific and technical One aim the Ramp2001 project pursued keenly was expertise, uniting expertise in biophysics, cell an exploration of the eff ects RF-EMF exposure might biology, computer modelling, neurophysiology and have on cell proliferation and cell diff erentiation – the pharmacology. The researchers are drawn from Italy, process by which immature, unspecialised cells give France, Sweden and the United Kingdom and are rise to cells with specialised characteristics. For this, the coordinated by the Italian Interuniversity Centre ICEmB, teams worked with cultured neuronal cells, including a consortium composed of various research groups, tumour cells derived from embryonic nerve cells. To administratively sited at the University of Genoa. complement these studies, two teams developed theoretical models and computer simulations to The Ramp2001 experiments improve understanding of how RF-EMF interacts with nerve cells at a cellular level. They paid close attention To ensure comparability of results, all RF exposure to early stages of these interactions, where the EMF experiments were carried out with the same frequency signal interacts with the cell membrane. and modulation parameters – those used in second- and third-generation mobile telephony systems – and The Ramp2001 results at four reference SAR values: one above, one close to, and two below current safety standards. Originally a three-year initiative scheduled to end in December 2004, the project's life was extended One team experimented on live rats, first exposing to the end of September 2005. Results are not yet them to RF-EMF for varying durations and then complete but preliminary findings do not show performing behavioural and memory tests on any particular eff ect of RF-EMF exposure on the them. The rats' brains were subsequently removed biological systems examined. for a range of biochemical tests and for imaging by electron microscopy. For the latter, they chose a novel imaging technique which measures brain energy consumption, to identify regions in the brain most sensitive to the GSM frequencies. Mapping the brain like this also helped the team select appropriate activities for the behavioural tests that would serve in further experiments to recognise abnormal brain function resulting from RF-EMF exposure. Other Ramp2001 partners developed an innovative exposure set-up for exposure tests on slices of brain tissue removed from unexposed rats. The results served as a yardstick against which the consortium later compared results from the memory and behaviour tests on live rats to give a fuller picture of electrophysiological changes in the brain. The regions Project title: of the brain of most interest were those normally Risk assessment for exposure of nervous system cells to closest in humans to hand-held mobile phones. m(Aocrboilney tmel:e Rp ah monpe 2 0EM01F): from in vitro to in vivo studies Project partners: University of Genoa – Interuniversity Centre ICEmB, Italy (Project coordinator) Institut National de l'Environment Industriel et des Risques, Verneuil en Halatte, France Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Electromagnetics, Gothenburg, Sweden University of Bradford, School of Informatics, United Kingdom Project Reference: QLK4-CT-2001-00463 Duration: 01-01-2002 to 30-09-2005 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The Reflex project:

Do extremely low-frequency and radio-frequency electromagnetic fields cause biological changes in cells?

The question of whether extremely low frequency The Reflex consortium

electromagnetic fields influence human health has

stubbornly resisted resolution for some time now, and It is this latter problem that the Refl ex team addressed. the same can be said of radio-frequency electromagnetic Through rigorously controlled and replicated

fields. The Refl ex consortium sought to clarify the issue experiments the partners looked for detrimental through an in vitro study at the level of individual cells. cellular changes in EMF-exposed cells that in the This involved exposing a wide range of human and long term may create conditions suitable for the animal cell lines to electromagnetic fi elds at intensities development of diseases such as cancer. Coordinated within current safety limits and analysing the outcomes. by VERUM – The Foundation for Behaviour and

Environment in Germany, the team assembled to The range of frequencies classifi ed as extremely low carry out the 52-month research project consisted frequency (ELF) is not large, stretching from zero only as far of 12 research groups drawn from seven European as 300 Hz. Their significance, though, is hard to minimise. countries. Replication of the experiments and their Electricity supply grids over the entire world operate results formed a vital part of the project as much within this range and give rise to ELF electromagnetic earlier research is doubted because the results had

fields (ELF-EMFs). So, sources of ELF-EMFs are widespread not been independently replicated and verifi ed.

inside and outside the home and workplace – power lines,

electrical wiring and all manner of electrical appliances. The Reflex experiments

EMFs classifi ed as radio frequency (RF-EMF) cover a much

broader range, extending from low to extremely high To enable experiments to be accurately replicated frequencies, 30 kHz to 300 GHz. They too are all around and to ensure comparability of their results, it was us, for instance in the transmission signals for radio and vital for the experimental set-ups at different sites to television broadcasts, mobile telecommunications be as similar as possible and their operation strictly networks, as well as in wireless networking of computers controlled. The team supplemented pre-existing and other digital devices. exposure systems with a novel apparatus, custom

built for the Reflex project, for generating ELF-EMFs AM radioVHF-TV &R%,&EQUENCY(Z 2ADIO&REQUENCIES2& -ICROWAVE&REQUENCIESand RF-EMFs. They installed four copies of each unit

FM radio K(ZK(Z -(Z -(Z -(Z '(Zin multiple laboratories. Each copy comprised an

UHF-TV incubator with two chambers for the cells. A computer

GSM

decided randomly which one was to be irradiated by Many experimental and epidemiological studies have EMFs and which one was not.

investigated the biological effects of these fi elds on humans. A large number have found no detrimental influence, but controversy still clings to the issue. On the one hand, some experiments have pointed to the potential for ELF-EMFs to alter genes. On the other hand, it remains unclear whether this in turn can cause diseases such as cancers and neurological illnesses. Also in question are the biological mechanisms by which EMFs may trigger pathological conditions at the cellular level. Possibilities include: uncontrolled increase

in cell numbers; the suppression of, or increase in, cell DNA strand breaks in HL-60 cells after exposure to - death; and changes in the mechanisms and structures iTrhraedloiantgioenr aanndd btori hgihgthe-rf trheqe utaenil,c tyheel ehcigtrhoemr tahgen Det Nic A fi-se tl rd as n. d

involved in the coding of genetic information. break frequency.

A dividing HL-60 cell with several micronulei detected with the micronucleus test under the microscope. The occurrence of one or more micronuclei is evidence of a genotoxic effect sustained by the cell In the ELF-EMF exposure systems, selected human cell lines were irradiated. Among these were Two high-frequency-EMF exposure chambers within lymphocytes, the white blood cells that help the an incubator body fight infection; fi broblasts, the cells that make In cells exposed to RF-EMF the researchers also the connective tissue that forms the supporting identifi ed genotoxic eff ects – marked by, among other framework of organs in the body; muscle cells; and things, DNA breakages, chromosomal aberrations and animal cell lines like granulosa cells from rats. Similar the formation of micronuclei – in human fibroblasts, experiments were performed in the RF-EMF exposure HL-60 cells and granulosa cells in rats, but not in systems on cell lines that included HL-60, a human cell lymphocytes. Once more, the degree of damage line used as a model of early bone-marrow precursor depended on the duration of exposure and on the cells; granulosa cells from rats; human lymphocytes; type of signal used. fibroblasts and brain cells. The Reflex team also obtained evidence that in After exposure, the Refl ex researchers analysed the some cell cultures both ELF-EMFs and RF-EMFs may cells for cellular changes indicative of genotoxicity affect the expression of genes and proteins involved – for example, aberrations in chromosomes or in such activities as cell division, proliferation and the presence of DNA damage, or of micronuclei, differentiation. fragments of chromosomes left outside the nucleus during cell division. They also monitored changes These findings are a valuable addition to our in expression of genes and proteins in the exposed understanding of the effects ELF-EMFs and RF-EMFs cells – expression is the process where the genetic can cause in human and animal cells cultured in the information encoded in a gene is converted into the laboratory. However, before any conclusions can structure and function of a cell. be drawn regarding the risks to human health, the results will have to be complemented by whole- The Reflex results animal studies. A mixed but intriguing pattern emerged from their analyses. Intermittent exposure to ELF-EMF at 50Hz, Project title: a common electrical mains frequency, had genotoxic Risk evaluation of potential environmental hazards from effects on human fi broblasts, human melanocytes loin vitrw eneromgy elecethodstr(omagReflex)netic field exposure using sensitive and some animal cells. Lymphocytes and other cell lines, meanwhile, remained unaffected. In fibroblasts, Project partners: they discovered a direct correspondence between VGEe RrmUMan –y F(C oo uo nr dd aintia ot no r fo) r Behaviour and Environment, the intensity and duration of ELF-EMF exposure and Free University of Berlin, Clinical Chemistry, Germany the number of DNA breakages or micronuclei, both University of Vienna, Occupational Health, Austria markers of genotoxicity. Obtained by two of the Institute for Plant Genetics, Germany Reflex laboratories, these results were validated by Ramon y Cajal Hospital, INSALUD, Spain two laboratories outside the project. STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Finland University of Hannover, Institute of Biophysics, Germany University of Bologna, Department of Physics, Italy Ecole National Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique, PIOM, France Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland University of Milan, Department of Medical Two chambers within an Pharmacology, Italy incubator in which one set of cells are exposed to extremely Resource Centre/Primary Database (RZPD), Germany low-frequency electromagnetic Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01574 Courtesy of IT'IS Foundation, fields and the other set, the Zurich, Switzerland control group, is not Duration: 01-02-2000 to 31-05-2004 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The THz-Bridge project:

Is terahertz radiation safe for biomedical and biological applications?

Medical applications of terahertz radiation are currently Greece, the UK, Italy and Israel and a British company the focus of a good deal of research. Anticipating an specialising in applications of terahertz radiation. imminent growth in its use in laboratories and hospitals, Together they combined expertise and skills from the THz-Bridge team came together to address questions a range of complementary disciplines including of safety that must be answered before standards can spectroscopy and biomedical imaging – all of them be established for THz radiation exposure. required for the team's diverse programme of biological

experiments with a variety of THz-radiation sources. Terahertz radiation spans the electromagnetic

spectrum's so-called T-gap. As the fi gure below The THz-Bridge experiments

shows, the T-gap stretches from about 100 gigahertz

to 20 terahertz; it is a region that has attracted far

less attention than its neighbours – higher-frequency

infrared and the lower-frequency microwaves. But

this is now changing.

ELF &REQUENCY(Z

Radio (RF)

Microwave (MW)Infrared (IR) -(Z &-R46 ADIOMICROV '(Z E NOWAV4
' EAP '(Z LAMPHEAT6"3,%))TANNINGBOOTH The ENEA THz source based on a compact Free

Ultraviolet

(UV)

X-ray Electron Laser

Improvements in semiconductor and laser technology have contributed to recent advances in the production of more powerful sources and detectors of THz radiation. This has opened up this once sedate expanse of the spectrum for exploration by a wider community of academic and industrial scientists and engineers. Already, researchers are developing applications in fi elds as diverse as astronomy, environmental science, quality assurance, medical imaging and safety. One team of researchers, recognising that current knowledge about the biological effects of THz radiation is limited, took the proactive step of launching the THz-Bridge project to assess the potential impacts of this technology on the health of users and patients.

The THz-Bridge consortium

The ENEA Frascati research centre in Italy headed the THz-Bridge team and international co-operation was vital as THz radiation sources spanning the entire T-gap are not available in any single country. Partners included research centres and universities in Germany,

The THz spectrometer at the University of Stuttgart

In a major part of their work, the partners studied the interaction of THz radiation with biological samples of increasing complexity to assess their susceptibility to damage by the radiation. Irradiated samples were monitored for changes in morphology and biological function relevant to the biological system under study. These included: changes in the properties of cell membranes to certain molecules, alterations in the activity of cells found in the outer layer of skin, and assessment of photochemical damage to the building blocks of DNA molecules that encode genetic

information in cells. In white blood cells exposed to

imaging applications, at least when patients are

THz radiation, the team looked for signs of genotoxicity

limited to single exposures. However, setting exposure

due to disturbances or damage to molecules or cellular

guidelines requires further studies to identify more

structures involved in genetic inheritance.

clearly the relationships between dose and response.

Establishing a database of biological spectra was

The targets for their spectroscopic studies were the

another important objective. These are graphical

various constituents of human blood, such as red and

plots that convey information about the absorption

white blood cells, haemoglobin, glucose, total protein

and emission of radiation by irradiated samples

and cholesterol, as well as a range of amino acids from

over a specifi ed range of wavelengths. For this, the

which proteins are made. The biological spectra the

team carried out spectroscopic analysis of biological

team collected during the course of the project are now

samples over infrared and THz wavelengths

available to research groups worldwide on the project's website1. They also developed tests for analysing blood

to identify regions

samples by infrared spectroscopy of substances such as

of the spectrum that

cholesterol, total protein and glucose.

could be used for THz

imaging applications.

The THz-Bridge survey of THz-radiation users was the

A typical spectrum is

first global survey of its kind. Over a period of one year,

shown in the fi gure

approximately 20% of the user community returned

left.

completed questionnaires. From research groups

at conferences and through the project website

to groups around the globe that are using, or are

planning to use THz sources. The primary objective Project title:

was to collate information on the use of THz radiation Tera-Hertz radiation in biological research, investigation from a safety point of view. What, it asked, are the on diagnostics and study of potential genotoxic effects

safety precautions adopted? What are the exposure (THz-Bridge)

conditions of personnel? What is the perceived risk Project partners:

felt by users of THz sources? And what are the physical ENEA, Frascati Research Centre, UTS Tecnologie Fisiche parameters of the sources used – such frequency and Avanzate, Italy (Coordinator)

power levels? Forschungszentrum Rossendorf e. V., Institut für Kern-

und Hadronenphysik, Germany

Tel-Aviv University, Department of Physiology and

The THz-Bridge results Pharmacology – Sackler School of Medicine, Israel

Universität Stuttgart, 1. Physikalisches Institut, Germany

In the irradiation studies, the team detected no Johann Wolfgang-Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, biological effects under many exposure conditions. Institut für Biophysik, Germany

However, in some cases they discovered a change University of Genoa, Centro Interuniversitario sulle

in the ability of certain chemical compounds to Interazioni tra Campi elettromagnetici e Biosistemi, Italy

flow through artifi cially created membranes. They NPhaytisoicnaall CHheellmenisictr Ry eInsestairtcuhteF, oGurneedcaetion, Theoretical and also observed genetic damage in lymphocytes Teraview Limited, United Kingdom

(white blood cells) that were directly exposed to THz The University of Nottingham, School of Biomedical radiation without the shielding effect of blood serum. Sciences, Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, United

The main conclusion from the project is that THz Kingdom

radiation will probably not be harmful in biomedical Universität Freiburg, Department of Molecular and

Optical Physics, Germany

Project Reference: QLK4-CT-2000-00129

1. http://www.frascati.enea/THz-BRIDGE Duration: 01-02-2001 to 31-01-2004

European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged

Electromagnetic Fields and Health

The EMF-NET project:

What are the implications for policy-makers and the public of research into the health effects of electromagnetic fields?

The quest to understand if and how electromagnetic fields affect health is naturally a sensitive one. Working from the incomplete charts drawn up so far by scientists, is it possible for policy makers to steer a course that avoids undue conflict between the many stakeholders? The EMF-NET project is doing its best to make sure the answer is yes.

Scientists researching the health effects of non- ionising electromagnetic fields have to contend with an enormous stretch of the electromagnetic spectrum, reaching from static electric and magnetic

fields to electromagnetic fields at frequencies in the The EMF-NET participants

terahertz range. They also have to contend with the

complexity of the human organism. The number EMF-NET draws on a distinguished line-up of and nature of the ways in which these two systems participants. Among them are the coordinators of interact can at present only be guessed at. So it is no all EU-supported projects on the health effects of surprise that the approaches and techniques so far EMFs, as well as representatives of major national and mustered by this still youthful branch of science are international research programmes and projects in heterogeneous. the fi eld. But EMF-NET is much more than a talking

shop where scientifi c experts will be content merely Behind the scenes, there are the dynamic social and to swap notes. Other participants are bringing political forces at work among an enormous array of important additional perspectives to the table. They stakeholders with diff erent interests in the fi eld – the include industrialists from mobile-phone operators scientists and research groups themselves; policy and the electrical and electronics industries, makers, politicians, governments and regulatory trade-union representatives and delegates from bodies, at local, national and international levels. And regulatory authorities. All told, 40 organisations are we must not forget health professionals, industrialists, represented.

investors, trade associations, trade unions, marketing

professionals, users of devices reliant on EMFs, EMF-NET activities

patients, and so on. Nor should we overlook for a

moment the modern media. The management team is putting its interpretation

interface into place through a suite of interlocking To bring order to this complex environment would activities, though none involves doing any laboratory-

be far too ambitious an aim for a single initiative but based or other primary research in the biological the participants in the EMF-NET coordination action sciences. Underlying their approach is a constant do aspire to make a substantial contribution to this process of identifying and bringing together the goal. They are looking to provide an interpretation results of current research in the field, which is widely interface' between science and policy making – a dispersed not only across scientific disciplines but framework for the interpretation of research results also among researchers around the world. In another through which European policy makers will be better continuous background activity, participants are able to take appropriate account of the best available monitoring emerging technologies, such as third- science in their decision making. and fourth-generation mobile telecoms systems, with

a view to helping identify the way ahead for future research. To help in both these tasks and others, the team is holding a series of public meetings, round tables, workshops and conferences. Boards of experts will be making sense of new information as it emerges, each board consolidating all research findings relevant to salient issues that fall within its expertise and distilling them into EMF-NET interpretation reports. The management team will distribute the reports to several audiences. First and foremost are policy makers and health authorities, but they will also target other stakeholder groupings, not least fellow scientists, but also, and just as importantly, the public at large. An investigation of risk perception and communication is a key element on the project's agenda. Here, the Project title: emphasis is on how to communicate information Effects of the exposure to electromagnetic fields: from about risks – potential and actual – without on the science to public health and safer workplace (EMF-NET) one hand avoiding diffi cult questions or, on the Steering Committee: other, provoking unjustifi ed fears – a tall order in the Paolo Ravazzani, Istituto di Ingegneria Biomedica, incessantly shifting sands of any rapidly developing Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milan, Italy scientific domain. The project has also formed the (Coordinator) European Fast Response Team on EMF and Health and Elisabeth Cardis, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France charged it with providing prompt, concise answers to Lawrence Challis, National Radiological Protection Board, questions put by the European Commission services. Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Jochen Buschmann, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur The EMF-NET results Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., München, Germany Only one year into its four-year term, the project has Guglielmo D'Inzeo, Interuniversity Center «Interaction between Electromagnetic Fields and Biosystem» (ICEmB), already built up a high profi le for itself in the scientific Genoa, Italy and policy-making communities, thanks in no small Maria Feychting, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, part to a project website rich in content1. It has made Sweden rapid progress in the cataloguing of relevant research Gerd Friedrich, Forschungsgemeinschaft Funk e. V., Bonn, results, organised and participated in dozens of Germany events and is looking forward to future events it has Kjell Hansson Mild, National Institute for Working Life, Umea, Sweden set up for the coming year; including two activities Jukka Juutilainen, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland dedicated to discussion of the implementation of Jolanta Karpowicz, Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy- EU directive 2004/40/EC on occupational exposure Panstwowy Instytut Badawczy, Warsaw, Poland to EMF. In August 2005, it began publishing its first Norbert Leitgeb, Institute of Clinical Engineering, Graz set of 13 interpretation reports. They cover subjects University of Technology, Graz, Austria ranging from epidemiological and laboratory studies Demosthenes Papamelethiou, Joint Research Centre, to emerging technologies. The Fast Response team Ispra, Italy has also published responses to questions on such TTheodorhessalonikos Samarasi, Greece, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, matters as the recent advice from a UK regulatory Gyorgy Thuroczy, "Frederic Joliot-Curie" National body on the use of mobile phones by children, the Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, health eff ects of telephone masts and the use of Budapest, Hungary ferrite beads in hands-free kits for mobile phones. Bernard Veyret, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France Project Reference: SSPE-CT-2004-502173 1. See http://emf-net.isib.cnr.it/ Duration: 01-03-2004 to 29-02-2008 European Commission - Research Directorate-General - European Communities, 2005 - Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged