Subject: (Fist) More fall-out from Carlo publicity.....
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 213656 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
......This is another story about George Carlo's recent admission
concerning possible cell phone/brain cancer linkage..... Notice
the comment toward the end of the article to the effect that:
Carlo is unhappy with the telecom industry because of their willingness
to fund research by the WHO (World Health Organization) while they are
now refusing to fund his (Carlo's) program......
[Remember, the WHO program is under Repacholi, another researcher with
strong past ties to the industry...... We just can't get away from
them!!!]
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
rbeavers@llion.org.......
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
EMF-L web-site can be found at:
EMF-L archives can be found at:
..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 11:22:02 +1000
From: Stewart Fist
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: New Article
List members may not have seen this:
-----------------------------------------
Lawyers probe mobile health risk liability
Communications Week International
By Sheridan Nye
07 June 1999
Research from an industry-funded body in the United States has renewed
concerns about potential health risks from using mobile phones - even before
any solid scientific evidence has emerged. While scientists emphasize that no
direct link has yet been found, mobile phone manufacturers are getting
inquiries from worried customers and are already seeking advice from
litigation experts.
Although manufacturers claim they have only received a limited numbers of
customer calls, the renewal of the health debate has raised the spectre of
legal liability. Lawyers are advising manufacturers they should protect
themselves by making sure they keep up-to-date with scientific research.
The latest results come from Wireless Technology Research LLC, of Washington
DC, which last month revealed a summary of its findings to the media in the
United Kingdom and the United States.
The WTR said it returned only two findings out of more than 40 studies that
could indicate a worrying link between cellphone use, brain cancer and genetic
change. It measured changes in chromosomes when human blood cells were exposed
to non-ionizing radiation from phones.
In population studies, it found no overall increase in the incidence of brain
cancer, but "a statistically significant risk" of a rare tumor called a
neurocytoma. This type of tumor grows inwards from the surface of the brain,
suggesting a possible link with an external source of radiation, say experts.
Although WTR chairman George Carlo stated that the results were inconclusive,
proving only the need for further research - and numerous other studies over
the years have failed to prove any direct correlation between mobile phone use
and health risks - Carlo said the WTR findings take the issue into "a gray
area" for the first time.
If clear health risks are ever demonstrated at a later stage, the
manufacturer will take ultimate responsibility in the event that an unsafe
phone reaches the market, said Trevor Asserson, litigation partner at law firm
Bird and Bird, London.
But under the U.K. Consumer Protection Act 1987, and the European Community's
Product Liability Directive, manufacturers are covered by the "state of the
art" defense, Asserson said. This states that manufacturers will only be
liable if they have failed to keep up with known scientific and technical
findings at the time the phone was distributed.
However, they would be liable if their phones merely kept pace with formal
regulations, as these may take several months to change after new scientific
papers are published, he added.
Employers worried about distributing phones to their staff should ensure the
devices are issued in their original packaging where possible, Asserson
suggested. This usually contains the manufacturer's warning to the effect that
"some people think there may be a health hazard, although no scientific
evidence has been produced," as well as advising users how to minimize exposure.
Corporates themselves would also be well advised to keep up with the latest
findings, added Asserson. "Although they can, in theory, pass on their own
liability to the manufacturer, in practice the manufacturer might have a
defense not open to the distributor, or might simply have gone bust," he said.
When corporate customers raise concerns, said Norm Sandler, director of
global strategic issues at Motorola Inc., Schaumburg, Illinois, "we've gone in
to brief them that the science is reflected in current health and safety
guidelines around the world."
One telecommunications manager from a large corporate based in the
Netherlands said he is not perturbed by recent media coverage. "For years, the
police, fire and armed forces have used devices with far higher power levels
than GSM," and no clear evidence of any side effects has been found, he said.
Yet just last week, the Metropolitan Police Service in London decided to
advise its officers to limit the length of cellphone conversations to five
minutes or, where this is not possible, to use an ear-piece. The advice will
only be given to individual officers who request it, but the Service confirmed
that it drew up the guidelines in response to media reports and following
consultation with the United Kingdom's National Radiological Protection Board.
Whatever approach employers take, some legal experts believe claimants anyway
would have difficulty proving and funding their claims. Even if medical
research uncovered new evidence, causation factors will likely remain
circumstantial and subject to debate, they said.
Nonetheless, investors in cellphone manufacturers' stocks may take a more
cautious attitude. A report from Lehman Brothers, London, suggests that
investors may face "a period of uncertainty" each time new research revives
the health debate in the media.
But with mobile phones increasingly a part of everyday life, growth is
unlikely to slow for long. "Without a proven link with brain cancer in
particular, we would expect the impact to be temporary," said the report.
Manufacturers, however, are frustrated that complex information from medical
studies is not always clearly explained.
"We're seeing the headlines before the substantive information," said
Motorola's Sandler. They are also concerned that WTR's summary was released to
the media before being fully presented to the wireless industry.
WTR's six-year research program was set up in 1993, backed by $25 million
from the industry through the U.S.
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA). The full study will
not be published until 19 June, and some commentators have questioned WTR's
timing in going public just as the organization is reaching the end of its
current funding.
Carlo said he only discussed the findings publicly after the report was
leaked to the Washington Post newspaper. He criticized the industry for being
content to fund medical research such as the World Health Organization's study
rather than allowing the WTR to follow up its findings, which only became
available earlier this year.
"The job of the WTR is to monitor and track research. With our program
ending, there is no-one in place to do that," said Carlo.
Leading mobile phone manufacturers Nokia Oyj of Helsinki and L.M. Ericsson AB
of Stockholm both said through spokespersons that they fund research in order
to share the cost of running large-scale studies into the effects of mobile
phone use.
A spokeswoman for Nokia said the company commits most of its funding to
independent research, in order to share the cost of running large-scale
studies. This includes all the major international programs, such as the WHO
study, she added.
Ericsson would not discuss either the scope or the results of its in-house
research, but said it also funds a number of independent studies.
Last month it decided to offer a hands-free kit for the first time, although
marketing will be focused on convenience and safety aspects while driving,
rather than potential health risks, a spokesman said.
--
Stewart Fist - writer and columnist
See http://technology.news.com.au/opinion/
http://www.abc.net.au/http/sfist/ (some archives)
http://www.electric-words.com (main archives)
70 Middle Harbour Road, Lindfield, 2070, N.S.W, Australia
Phone +61 2 9416 7458 Fax +61 2 9416 4582
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