Subject:  The "George Orwell" version of the NIEHS report.....
Date:     Tue, 15 Jun 1999 162903 -0500 (CDT)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To:       emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------


......Here is the first press report.....  Designed to NOT offend
the BIG spenders (the advertisers, etc...)   Still, if you read past the
headline, there is no 'real' comfort here for the electric power line
people.....!!!!

(Who reads past the headlines anymore?????)

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..................


     _________________________________________________________________
   
01:18 PM ET 06/15/99

Electric Fields, Cancer Link Nixed


 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID=
 Associated Press Writer=
           WASHINGTON (AP) _ Six years of research have produced little
 hard evidence that the magnetic fields around electric power lines
 cause cancer, yet some lingering concerns remain, a National
 Institutes of Health division reported Tuesday.
           ``Virtually all of the laboratory evidence in animals and humans
 and most of the mechanistic studies in cells fail to support a
 causal relationship'' between the electromagnetic fields and
 cancer, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
 said in the report to Congress.
           However, it said there have been some statistical associations
 between the fields and childhood leukemia as well as chronic
 lymphocytic leukemia in adults exposed to the fields through their
 work, such as electric utility workers, machinists and welders.
           Research is continuing on these ``lingering concerns'' and
 efforts to reduce human exposure to electromagnetic fields should
 continue, the report said.
           ``The lack of consistent, positive findings in animal or
 mechanistic studies weakens the belief that this association is
 actually due to EMF, but it cannot completely discount the
 epidemiological findings,'' NIEHS Director Kenneth Olden said in a
 statement.
           Therefore, he said, since virtually everyone in the country is
 routinely exposed to EMF, efforts to reduce such exposure should
 continue.
           For example, the electrical industry should continue efforts to
 reduce the electromagnetic fields around large transmission lines
 and communities should enforce electrical codes to avoid wiring
 errors that can increase EMF.
           The focus on a possible link to cancer stemmed from a 1979
 Denver study that tied leukemia to EMF, but the researchers also
 concluded that there was no connection between EMF and other
 problems including Alzheimer's disease, depression and birth
 defects.
           Just a year ago, a panel of scientists studying this issue
 concluded, in a 19-9 vote, that electromagnetic fields should be
 considered ``possible human carcinogens'' though the risk was
 ``probably quite small.''
           That was at odds with a 1996 report by a National Research
 Council panel of scientists.Those scientists evaluated about 500
 studies on the health effects of high voltage power lines and found
 ``no conclusive and consistent evidence'' that electric and
 magnetic fields cause any human disease.
           Though the link between electricity and disease has long been
 controversial, some consumer groups have sued power companies or
 forced utility firms to move power lines or install shielding.

     _________________________________________________________________




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