Powerwatch News - 28/03/2008 - Brain Surgeon demonstrates clear brain tumour risk

28/03/2008 - Brain Surgeon demonstrates clear brain tumour risk

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Dr. Vini G. Khurana, a Staff Specialist Neurosurgeon for The Canberra Hospital, has written a paper looking at recent epidemiological and laboratory research on mobile phones and likelihood of an increase in brain tumour risk, and finds the evidence to be fairly overwhelming.

The following are the key messages of his paper:

Mobile phones are convenient and frequently invaluable, yet exposure to their electromagnetic radiation is invisible. Therefore, any danger this exposure poses may be easily dismissed.

Exposure is long-term and its effects on the body, particularly its electrical organ, the brain, are compounded by numerous other simultaneous long-term exposures including continuous waves from radio and TV transmitter towers, cordless phone base stations, power lines, and wireless/WiFi computing devices.

A malignant brain tumour represents a life-ending diagnosis in the vast majority of those diagnosed. There is a significant and increasing body of evidence, to date at least 8 comprehensive clinical studies internationally and one long-term meta-analysis, for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours.

Taken together, the data presented below compellingly suggest that the link between mobile phones and brain tumours should no longer be regarded as a myth. Individual and class action lawsuits have been filed in the USA, and at least one has already been successfully prosecuted, regarding the cell phone-brain tumour link.

The "incubation time" or "latency" (i.e., the time from commencement of regular mobile phone usage to the diagnosis of a malignant solid brain tumour in a susceptible individual) may be in the order of 10-20 years. In the years 2008-2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up time to begin to definitively observe the impact of this global technology on brain tumour incidence rates.

There is currently enough evidence and technology available to warrant Industry and Governments alike in taking immediate steps to reduce exposure of consumers to mobile phone-related electromagnetic radiation and to make consumers clearly aware of potential dangers and how to use this technology sensibly and safely.

It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger generation, including very young children.

Scientists and physicians from some academic centres worldwide came together in mid-2007 to propose safer standards regarding public exposure to electromagnetic fields (Click the link for details).

From the Hardell papers and the INTERPHONE studies to Chou and Lau's lab work, most of the important papers from the last 10 years are very well represented, including insightful commentaries on each of the papers themselves. At the end of the section looking at the science, Dr. Khurana also gives a summary of the typical criticisms of both the positive and the negative studies.

The case is made extremely well that, regardless of the fact that there is about a 50%/50% split of positive and negative studies in the recent literature, the justification for the increase in brain tumour risk being genuine is very compelling, and the conclusions are very hard hitting:

"...unless the Industry and Governments take immediate and decisive steps to openly acknowledge and intervene in this situation, even while waiting definitive confirmation by large and well-constructed multi-centre studies worldwide, malignant brain tumour incidence and its associated death rate will be observed globally to rise within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to meaningfully intervene, especially for those who are currently children and young adults."

Dr. Vini G. Khurana, March 2008

The full paper is available online for free, and is an exceptionally well researched document following up the Bioinitiative report from last year. It is becoming steadily more irresponsible for governments to be following the now very outdated WHO advice on the risks from Electromagnetic Radiation, and high time that precautionary guidelines are adopted to take into account the implications that the possible increase in risk may have. Bearing in mind that there is now over a 100% market saturation of mobile phones in the UK, the repurcussions could be immense, and by the time they start appearing it will be too late.

Links

- Online Paper in Full

- About the Author

- Coverage in Local Press

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