Subject: (Maisch) Brain tumour incidence and airport radar (fwd)
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 102454 -0600 (CST)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 01:51:23 +1100 (EST)
From: Don Maisch
To: rbeavers@mail.llion.org
Subject: Brain tumour incidence and airport radar
Dear Roy
The following should be of interest. Could you please post on your news
group. I have rewritten the article below so it does not infringe on KIRO
7's copyright.
Regards
Don Maisch
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Source: KIRO 7 Eyewitness: Health News.
In a three mile radius around the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) airport,
Washington, U.S.A. twenty-one people have contracted glioblastoma, a rare
and aggressive brain cancer over a three year period. Washington State
Epidemiologist, Juliet VanEenwyk, said, "We found elevated rates of
globlastoma in an area three miles around Sea-Tac airport."In the three
year period the state examined, they expected 12 cases of glioblastoma but
found 21.
They also found excessive cases of all the cancers they looked for.
Suspecting there was a significant occurrence of brain cancer in the
residential areas around the airport, residents Audrey Richter and Rose
Clark collected three years data to compile a map geographically locating
brain cancer cases. The map clearly shows that the closer one is to the
flight path, the more likely one is likely to die of cancer.
The residents are blaming toxic chemicals from aircraft fuel from the
aircraft flying overhead and are urging the state's health department to
investigate to find what could be dangerous in jet fumes.
John Bregar, from the Environmental Protection Agency said that
formaldehyde, benzine and other chemicals in jet fuel have been linked to
cancer. "We don't really know what happens when exhaust fumes from airlines
reacts with other chemicals in the air," said Bregar. "We don't know what
kind of effect that has on human health".
The state health department has launched its own investigation and are
looking at other possible hazards, such as auto exhaust fumes. A
spokesperson said that if the federal government ever decides to study jet
fuel emissions, that could give them valuable information.
What is interesting about this news item is that nothing is mentioned about
the possible connection between the cancers, particularly glioglastoma, and
the airport radar transmissions.
Epidemiologist John Goldsmith, at Ben Gurion University, Isreal has listed
the findings from different studies which suggest four possible health
effects from radar exposure: A) disturbances in blood counts, not
necessarily of clinical severity; B) changes in chromosomes of white blood
cells; C) increases in frequency of unfavourable reproductive outcomes,
especially spontaneous abortion, and D) increases in cancers of certain
sites.
Several years ago the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research in
Hobart Tasmania was asked to look into cancer incidence around the Hobart
airport and apparently similar enquiries were happening in relation to
other airports near Australian cities. This was done on a confidential
basis.
I have contacted a doctor, who is associated with the Sea-Tac inquiry and
suggested they look into radar exposure. What I am trying to find now are
any studies done specifically on airport radar and cancer incidence?
Sincerely
Don Maisch
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