Subject: FLASH!!! New NCI (childhood) emfstudy (fwd) Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 145236 -0500 (CDT) From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org> To: emfguru@hotmail.com -------------------------------------------------- Hi everybody: Once again, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) -- one of those RICH health bureaucracies -- has done a study examining the possible connection between EMF and childhood cancer. Once again, their study weakly corroborates that such a connection DOES EXIST!!! But they just can't bring themselves to admit what their own data reveals. You will recall ... that was the same problem they had with the results of their earlier power line study...... The major results of this latest study and abstract (both written by the study authors) is printed below..... One IMPORTANT point concerning the UNIVERSAL problem with epidemiological studies about EMF effects: Remember guru's essay about the "Ugly Secret?"????..... ......Because EMF exposure is so widespread in our society, epidemiology researchers CANNOT always say that they are succeeding in comparing "exposed" subjects to "unexposed" subjects. That means that EMF epidemiological studies tend to be biased in the direction of showing no effect or very little effect... i.e., low "risk factors" or low ORs.... as in the study below...... Still, the ***incriminating*** EMF/adverse health effect is there!!!!!! (And you don't have to read "between the lines" in order to see it this time!) Given the agency in charge of this study (and the people, some of the same as in the earlier Linet study), the results below should be regarded quite seriously by those who seek the truth in this matter -- and who are not ready to be "bought off" by RICH health bureaucracies that are more interested in providing "explanations" which defend government policy and promote "special interest" causes other than the public's health interests....... Cheerio...... Roy Beavers (EMFguru) rbeavers@llion.org..............http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html ................................It is better to light a single candle ... than to curse the darkness............................................... ************ The abstract. The study did report increased odds ratios associated with use of electric blankets and some other applicances. Refer also the editorial by Savitz et al that accompanies the article in the same issue of Epidemiology. The saga continues. ************** Association between Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Use of Electrical Appliances during Pregnancy and Childhood Elizabeth E. Hatch,1 Martha S. Linet,1 Ruth A. Kleinerman,1 Robert E. Tarone,1 Richard K. Severson,2 Charleen T. Hartsock,3 Carol Haines,4 William T. Kaune,5 Dana Friedman,1 Leslie L. Robison,2 and Sholom Wacholder1 As part of a comprehensive study of residential magnetic field exposure in nine midwestern and mid-Atlantic states, we evaluated the use of appliances by 640 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 0-14 years of age, diagnosed between 1989 and 1993, and 640 matched control children. Mothers were interviewed regarding use of electrical appliances during their pregnancy with the subject and the child's postnatal use. The risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia was elevated in children whose mothers reported use of an electric blanket or mattress pad during pregnancy [odds ratio (OR) = 1.59; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11-2.29] but was reduced for use of sewing machines during pregnancy (OR = 0.76; 95% CI = 0.59-0.98). The risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia was increased with children's use of electric blankets or mattress pads (OR = 2.75; 95% CI = 1.52-4.98) and three other electrical appliances (hair dryers, video machines in arcades, and video games connected to a television), but the patterns of risk for duration in years of use and frequency of use were inconsistent for most appliances used by children. Risks rose with increasing number of hours per day children spent watching television, but risks were similar regardless of the usual distance from the television. The inconsistency in the dose-response patterns for many appliances, reporting and selection bias, and the lack of an effect for measured 60 Hertz magnetic fields or wire codes in our companion study must be considered before ascribing these associations to exposures from magnetic fields. Key words: magnetic fields, appliances, leukemia, childhood, case-control study. Kenneth R Foster Department of Bioengineering University of Pennsylvania 220 S. 33rd St. Philadelphia PA 19104-6392 215-898-8534 fax 215-573-2071 President IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology 1997-8 Chair, EMBS Committee on Man and Radiation 1997- ***************************************************************************** Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html