Subject: BEMS/Conflict of interest (guru).
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 071449 -0600
From: Roy Beavers
To: guru
--------------------------------------------------
Hi folks!!
I am back from Washington, D.C., where I attended the Annual BEMS
Winter Workshop. I am attaching this to the message below, which
I sent shortly before my departure -- thus connecting you to the
"where we were" thread of the preceding dialogue.
The meeting was fruitful but not overly informative. Not much
new!! Most reports continue to show that research is slowly progressing --
even in the absence of government (U.S.) funding.
Non-U.S. attendees were under-represented. Almost none --
excepting the presence of researchers from Canada and Italy.
The theme that was present in the room seemed to reflect a
continuing belief (on the part of the BEMS researchers) that
EMF/bioeffects, per se, are now an established scientific
reality -- and at very low exposure levels, though the
biological mechanisms are so "subtle" that they continue to
elude us. (One exception to that theme -- Dr. Larry E.
Anderson of Batelle Labs in Richland, Washington, whose
presentation did not support the "legitimacy of bioeffects"
theme.)
I chanced into a situation where I was able to have a brief
(private) lunch with Dr. Mays Swicord, Motorola's front man
in the EMF fight concerning the safety of cell phones.
We found no areas of agreement, but we parted shaking hands and
agreeing to talk again sometime. I was mainly impressed
(disturbed) by Dr. Swicord's _obliviousness_ (is that an
acceptable word?) to any concern whatsoever (!!) about the
widespread presence of **conflict of interest** in the EMF
research/reporting on the possible public health effects from
the exploding cell phone technology!!! Including his own!!!!
[After 26 years at FDA, he retired to go to work for Motorola
in his present role...... He is also the "editor" of the BEMS society's
'every other month' publication, BIOELECTROMAGNETICS.
That is -- in my view -- a NAKED case of conflict.....guru....]
Well ... more on that and the substance of some of the reports ...
to come in the future......
One report did stand out in my mind because it is a follow-up of
earlier results on a neglected matter: EMF effect on heart-health.
Watch for more to come out on that soon. It is the work of
Dr. Antonio Sastre of MRI in Kansas City (not far from me).
It suggests an extremely subtle effect -- upon heart rate
variability -- that may have been ongoing (and likely increasing)
for years.....!!
One of the really HUGE problems about the induced health effects
of the ubiquitous EMF in our environment ... is that we simply
CANNOT detect that activity until it is well advanced!! (In
my mind, this REQUIRES us to be cautious, defensive and take
precautionary measures based on incomplete but consistent results
that POINT TO possible health effects ... **before** we have the
**proof.**.......!!!
I also was impressed by the "theoretical" presentation made by
Dr. Frank Prato of the U. Of Western Ontario. He postulates a
"model" to explain one method by which magnetic fields may
interact with a biological system. In this case -- the subject's
brain or nervous system which controls "autonomically" his
ability to maintain a "standing balance" when eyes are closed.
[I think it is noteworthy that this research is seeking to show
an **autonomic** impact ... as opposed to the usual **cognitive**
impact, which has often been studied and reported upon in the past......
It is, thus, much less a matter of 'subjective'
conclusion on the part of the subject!!!......guru......]
He has developed a "standing balance platform" which enables
him to study the subject's behavior under various EMF exposure conditions.
A pattern of behavior responses can be detected
which seems to show that ELF frequency (NOT cell phones -- which
were not part of this experiment) magnetic field "perturbs"
(his word) or "slightly disorients" (my word) a subject's standing balance
ability. This work is not completed and is something to
watch for in the future.
That's it for now...... Just wanted to let you know that I am
back......(Have over 70 new messages in my mail box. Will answer
some -- but can't possibly answer all....)
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
WEBSITE: http://emfguru.com
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Conflict of interest in Sweden (Johansson)..
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001 09:13:55 -0600
From: Roy Beavers
Reply-To: roy@emfguru.com
Organization: EMF-L List
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
.......Response from Dr. Johansson.......
Response (below) to guru's question: Is "conflict of interest"
situation as bad in Sweden as it is in U.S.???......guru......
BTW!! Guru will be traveling (to Washington, D.C.) to attend
the BEMS annual winter workshop. EMF-L wil be "dark" from about
midnight _tonight_ until next Sunday sometime......guru.....
[BEMS = BioElectroMagnetic Society, the world's leading association of
scientists who work on all scientific aspects of the EMF issue. At
present, however, the society is heavily under "industry" influence
(and funding? More conflict of interest???) More about that when I return.......guru.....]
-------- Original Message --------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 15:38:10 +0100
From: Olle Johansson
To: Roy Beavers
P.S. Maybe, dear Roy, the situation in Sweden actually is worse than in the
US, because in the US a private person can actually take any issue to court
and, eventually, even win. And such a victory will cost a lot of
$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for any company. The corresponding situation is not true for
Sweden, thus, the actual risk for a company is enormously much smaller!
Best regards
Yours
Olle
(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof.
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden)
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com