Subject: "Electromagnetic Fields Affect Human Cells" (Gordon).
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 072609 -0500
From: Roy Beavers
To: guru
--------------------------------------------------
..........Ho-hum......
Another experiment has **proved** the biological activity (in this case
the genotoxicity) that can result from exposure to EMF......
And -- as usual -- the researcher "bows to Mecca" (government/industry)
by saying: this doesn't "prove" adverse health consequences......
This researcher (Dr. Trosko) needs to answer a different question:
Would he agree to have his children or grandchildren live in close
proximity to powerlines??? Given what he now knows as a result of his
own experiment....!!!
Cheerio.... guru.......
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: (fwd) "Electromagnetic Fields Affect Human Cells"
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 07:48:41 -0400
From: Jeff Gordon
To: roy@emfguru.com
'Morning, Roy --
A friend just sent me this.
-- Jeff --
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 04:10:45 -0700
Subject: Electromagnetic Fields Affect Human Cells
Electromagnetic fields, similar to those found in overhead
power lines, can have a biological effect on human cells, an
effect that could contribute to the complex cellular process that
leads to cancer, research at Michigan State University shows.
The work of James E. Trosko, a professor of pediatrics and human
development, and colleagues is published in the October issue of
Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
"Our studies have contributed to what many other studies have
shown, and that is that there is a biological effect of the
energy imparted by extremely low frequency EMF (ELF-EMF) on
living systems," Trosko said.
Until now, he said, most studies on the biological and health
effects of ELF-EMF had been "inconclusive or contradictory."
"Until now, the weight of the theoretical and experimental
evidence has suggested that ELF-EMF did not have the ability to
interact with genetic material to damage it, thereby causing
mutations, which we know can lead to cancer," Trosko said.
Trosko and his colleagues studied the effects of ELF-EMF on mouse
leukemia cells that had the potential to mature into cells
producing hemoglobin after exposure to a chemical. Hemoglobin is
the substance which is needed to bind oxygen in blood.
They found that electromagnetic fields of 60 hertz and of
strengths ranging from .05 to 10 gauss interfered with the
chemically induced maturation process in the mouse cells and
allowed the cells to continue to proliferate.
After four days of exposure, about 35 percent of the chemically
treated cells that were exposed to ELF-EMF showed these effects.
What Trosko and his colleagues found is that ELF/EMF is not a
tumor initiator, but rather a potential tumor promoter.
"ELF-EMF doesn't seem to mutate genes, which could convert a
normal cell to an 'initiated' cell," he said. "But it can turn
them on and off at inappropriate times, causing these initiated
cells to proliferate when normally they would just sit there
quietly doing nothing."
"The whole point of our study was not to see if extremely low
frequency EMF causes cancer, but if it changes gene expression,"
Trosko said. "The bottom line is we showed there is a biological
effect of EMF as measured by altering the expression of the
hemoglobin-producing gene.
"I think it's important to note that there is a distinction
between a biological effect and a health effect. Just because I
sit under a high power transmission line, and just because that
exposure might alter some biological activity in my body, that
doesn't automatically mean I'm going to get cancer. And even if
I should get cancer, it does not mean ELF-EMF had anything to do
with the production of that particular cancer."
Trosko pointed out that the process in which a cell changes from
a regular, healthy cell to a cancerous one is long and complex,
involving different molecular/biochemical steps.
"These initiated cells need promoting agents to bring about
cancer," he said. "They could be natural, such as hormones or
chemicals in the food we eat. Or they could be man-made
chemicals, drugs or pollutants.
"Most importantly, in order to act as a tumor promoter, many
conditions must be met, including the ability of the promoter to
overcome natural suppressing effects on cell proliferation,
timing of the exposure to the promoter, absence of
anti-promoters, and exposure for regular and long periods of
time."
Other members of Trosko's research team were Gang Chen, Brad L.
Upham, Wei Sun, Chia-Cheng Chang, all of the MSU Department of
Pediatrics and Human Development; Edward J. Rothwell and Kun-Mu
Chen, of MSU's Department of Electrical Engineering; and Hiroshi
Yamasaki of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in
Lyon, France.
The work was funded by a grant from the Electrical Power Research
Institute.
Contact: James E. Trosko, Pediatrics and Human Development
(517) 353-6346
or Tom Oswald, University Relations
(517) 432-0920 oswald@msu.edu
----- End forwarded message -----
--
-- Jeff --
"There's nothing left in the world to prove. All that's worth doing
is to love one another, using whatever means are available to serve."
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com