Subject: ,,EMF,,(H) Guru comments on lab research......~'
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 111919 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@mail.llion.org>
To: Multiple recipients of list <emf-l@mail.llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
Hi everybody:
In his excellent report on the present status of EMF research
concerning Melatonin, Don Maisch provided the following two
paragraphs..... [The "Graham" mentioned is Dr. Charles Graham of
Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, MO, about 4 hours from
guru's home by auto.]......
***********
"Graham cautions against a conclusion that EMFs do not affect
Melatonin. He points out that all of the volunteers in his studies
were 'healthy young men', and that the types of EMFs with which people
come in contact in an industrialized society are much more varied
than those created in the carefully controlled MRI exposure facility.
"In relation to this, Dr. Reif of Colorado State University comments,
'Most natural observations appear to find Melatonin changes, while
controlled lab studies tend not to. . . In a general way, I'm concerned
that the controlled lab trials may not mimic exposures in the real world."
********
Guru has written much the same in the following comment which he submitted
to the drafters of the NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental
Health Hazards) EMF RAPID report ... when he was asked to comment on the
first draft of that report (not yet released) following the four day
meeting in Durham, North Carolina in March.........
Please note the common thread of concern about the direction EMF
research has taken! ***[Particularly important when you recall how
"the industry" people repeatedly emphasize that "nothing has been
proved yet." Guru says that if your research is not mimicking "real
world" conditions ... you should EXPECT your results to come up short
of *that* kind of proof.......]***
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@mail.llion.org.........http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html
...............................It is better to light a single candle ...
than to curse the darkness...............................................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:48:45 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: wolfe@niehs.nih.gov
Subject: Comments on Fax of 4/17/97
Mary:
Thank you for the fax. I received it in good shape.
I am not qualified to comment on the calcium/ion research.....
However, may I submit the following discussion which addresses other
concerns I have. While these remarks appear to relate to (Roman) III
in the paper you forwarded, they also apply generally to all the sessions
I attended.
1) We are conveying the impression that "EMF" is a single-dimension
phenomenon. -- Wrong.
2) Laboratory research tends to channel our thinking into a notion that
the "real world" is in the petri dish. -- Wrong. We are actually looking
at a very large realm through a very small prism.
3) There is a need (particularly for congressional understanding) to allow
for legitimate extrapolation ... beyond that which we can learn via the
limited capabilities of the laboratory.
Accordingly, I submit the following paragraph for your consideration......
..............Real World Extrapolation........
Given the limitations of the laboratory in conducting EMF research, it
cannot be said that real world EMF exposure metrics are being exactly
duplicated in our in-vitro research.
Research to date has concentrated on the 'magnetic field' effect. This
means that the electric current and induced electric current effects on
cells and/or tissue remain unknown. The possibly important "transient
effect" (a regularly occurring phenomenon on power lines) is absent in
the laboratory. There is no ground current effect and the possible
"radon daughter" connection is assumed to be of no consequence.
Finally, the exposure time-periods in the laboratory are necessarily
extremely short when compared to the exposure of, for example, a child
living in the shadow of power lines for a decade or so.
For these reasons, it is important to note that in-vitro laboratory
results are likely to be less than "real world" EMF effects would project.
Though it is not possible to make any such projection with precision.
----------------------
Thank you.....and have a good weekend. I shall be gardening......
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@mail.llion.org.........web-page: www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html
...............................It is better to light a single candle ...
than to curse the darkness...............................................
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