Research Links Workers Ills To Microwaves
By Sally Squires March 31, 1985
Brain damage and unusual changes in spinal fluid have been detected in more than two dozen Swedish radar-maintenance workers exposed for 10 years or more to microwave radiation, according to a researcher at Sweden's University of Goteborg.
The study provides some of the first evidence of physical changes directly linked to microwaves, to which most people are exposed at levels 10,000 to 100,000 times below what the radar operators experienced. It has major implications not only for radar workers but also for the increasing numbers of people in general who are exposed to microwaves and other forms of non-ionizing radiation.
Non-ionizing radiation is generated by electrical and magnetic fields that alternate at varying frequencies. Its uses range from radio and television to sophisticated radar missile-tracking stations to overland power lines, video display terminals, microwave ovens, garage-door openers and cellular telephones.
"This is a very serious problem," said Dr. Robert O. Becker, a retired researcher, who describes the effects of non-ionizing radiation in a book, "The Body Electric."
"I think that it's more important than the chemical contamination of the environment that Rachel Carson wrote about in 'Silent Spring,' " he said.
For 40 years controversy has been brewing about whether non-ionizing radiation poses health risks, much the way scientists once debated the dangers of ionizing radiation, such as X rays and radiation from nuclear explosions.
"The Swedish study is another in a long line of studies that suggest a problem," said Andrew Marino, a biophysicist at the Louisiana State University Medical School in Shreveport who was a consultant on a study for the Navy on the health and environmental effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) radio waves, a form of non-ionizing radiation. "It's not proof, but it raises a clear warning of a present danger."
Dr. Hans-Arne Hansson, a Swedish neurologist who teaches at the medical school at the University of Goteborg, reported that extensive tests showed that the radar workers, men aged 35 to 62, displayed symptoms of brain damage known as frontal lobe brain syndrome and had disabilities ranging from memory loss and difficulty concentrating to such severe mental impairment that they have been forced to quit.
In addition, Hansson, who will publish these findings this year in a peer-reviewed scientific book, discovered an abnormal protein in the spinal fluid of these workers -- a protein that "may be the first step towards having a marker for overexposure to microwaves," according to Thomas C. Rozzell of the U.S. Office of Naval Research -- London.
This protein seems to be the human equivalent of an abnormal substance Hansson has isolated from the spinal fluid of rabbits exposed to microwaves in experiments.
"Hansson is the one person who has shown objective changes of cells in the brain with exposure to electromagnetic radiation," said Becker. "That's the kind of smoking gun you need in this field.
The presence of this abnormal protein in the spinal fluid appears to signal "trouble in the brain," said Dr. Ross Adey, associate chief of staff for research and development at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Loma Linda, Calif. "The protein that Hansson sees is an indication that the normal balance between two cell types in the brain has been seriously disturbed and that a defect in nerve-cell function is inevitable."
Neurons in the brain "depend for their good health on neuroglial cells," Adey said. "Neuroglial cells are the guardians and the custodians of much of the metabolic activity" of other brain cells. The abnormal protein described by Hansson is thought to be derived from neuroglial cells, Adey added.
Hansson's findings help "set in perspective other work that has been done by Dr. Bernard Servantie of the French Navy" and by Polish researchers, Adey said.
Called PI 4, the protein has been found only in people with substantial exposure to microwaves. It cannot be accounted for by "other possible causes of disease or health problems," Hansson reported. Men similar to the radar workers except for a lack of microwave exposure showed no evidence of the protein or the other brain damage.
Despite an extensive search of several thousand samples of spinal fluid, the protein also "has not been demonstrated in patients with other various neurological symptoms" caused by tumors, injury, nerve damage or multiple sclerosis, Hansson said in a telephone interview.
The radar workers also showed alterations of normal proteins in the spinal fluid and, in two cases, partial blindness caused by retinal damage.
These and other findings will be presented in June at the annual meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society in San Francisco. The results have circulated in recent months in unclassified reports among the U.S. military scientific community. They could have particular significance for military personnel and for others with chronic occupational exposure to microwaves, such as people who service telephone microwave relay stations.
Hansson has suggested that the findings indicate that "exposure of nervous tissue to electromagnetic fields ranging from power line frequency to microwaves may thus exert a wide range of effects, mostly by mechanisms we know little about." He reported that "microwave exposure may induce chronic effects of nervous tissue which may become evident after a 'silent period' " lasting months or years.
Results of these studies "suggest that even humans occupationally exposed to microwaves of moderate to high intensity could be at risk of brain damage," Hansson said.
These findings have special importance in the United States, where allowable exposure to microwaves and other forms of non-ionizing radiation is among the world's highest. A 1982 study by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimated that 9 million Americans are exposed to microwave radiation. With the heavy use of radar, virtually "everyone in the Navy is exposed to potentially high levels of microwave radiation," said a scientist from the Office of Naval Research.
Studies from around the world are beginning to suggest that this "electropollution" common to modern life may produce significant biological changes. "We're finding more and more effects every day from electromagnetic fields," said Rozzell of the Office of Naval Research. "Strange little effects are cropping up. Animal studies are pointing out that at very low levels one is quite likely to see some biological effects, which may or may not be harmful."
Two recent studies -- one of Polish military personnel, the other a U.S. Air Force-sponsored animal study -- also suggest an increased risk of cancer.
"When you turn on your television it's not little green men that are bringing the picture to you," Becker said. "It's electromagnetic waves that are passing the picture."
Scientists once thought that non-ionizing radiation posed few health effects -- unless enough of it were absorbed to heat cells or tissues, an effect exploited in microwave ovens.
"My own personal opinion is that there have been enough reports in the scientific literature to indicate that there are some effects other than thermal effects," said Dr. Vincent Archer, a clinical professor of occupational medicine at the University of Utah Medical Center. "We don't have enough information to know how serious that non-thermal effect is."
Samples of spinal fluid were taken when microwave bombardment of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from the 1950s to 1970s was revealed. "But that cerebrospinal fluid was not looked at in the kind of detail that Hansson has looked at," said Samuel Koslov, who assisted the medical team that examined the exposed embassy workers.
Exposure at the embassy was also "on the order of microwatts per square centimeter," 1,000 times less than the "milliwatts per square centimeter involved in radar testing," Koslov said.
Research on occupational microwave exposure
Epidemiological studies:
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Baste, V., Riise, T., & Moen, B. E. (2008). Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields; male infertility and sex ratio of offspring. European Journal of Epidemiology, 23(5), 369-77. "The authors performed a cross-sectional study among military men employed in the Royal Norwegian Navy, including information about work close to equipment emitting radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, one-year infertility, children and sex of the offspring. ...In a logistic regression, odds ratio (OR) for infertility among those who had worked closer than 10 m from high-frequency aerials to a "very high" degree relative to those who reported no work near high-frequency aerials was 1.86 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.46-2.37), adjusted for age, smoking habits, alcohol consumption and exposure to organic solvents, welding and lead. Similar adjusted OR for those exposed to a "high", "some" and "low" degree were 1.93 (95% CI: 1.55-2.40), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.25-1.84), and 1.39 (95% CI: 1.15-1.68), respectively. In all age groups there were significant linear trends with higher prevalence of involuntary childlessness with higher self-reported exposure to radiofrequency fields." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18415687 Comment: Mostly radar exposure, fertility problems. The comparison group was also exposed to radar.
Behrens, T., Lynge, E., Cree, I., Sabroe, S., Lutz, J.-M., Afonso, N., Eriksson, M., et al. (2010). Occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and sex-differential risk of uveal melanoma. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 67(11), 751-759. "293 patients with uveal melanoma and 3198 control subjects were interviewed. Women exposed to electrical transmission installations showed elevated risks (OR 5.81, 95% CI 1.72 to 19.66). Positive associations with exposure to control rooms were seen among men and women, but most risk increases were restricted to subjects with dark iris colour. Application of published EMF measurements revealed stronger risk increases among women compared to men. Again, elevated risks were restricted to subjects with dark eye colour." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20798011
Bortkiewicz, A., Zmyslony, M., Palczynski, C., Gadzicka, E. and Szmigielski, S. (1995). Dysregulation of autonomic control of cardiac function in workers at AM broadcasting stations (0.738-1.503 MHz). Electro- and Magnetobiology 14(3), 177-191. "The results suggest that exposure of workers to EM fields can cause slight disturbances in autonomic cardiac regulation and slight dysregulation of circadian rhythms in workers exposed to EM fields exceeding 100-150 V/m." http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a785647700~db=all~order=page Comment: See also Szmigielski et al. (1998), similar findings. Results are often frequency/technology specific.
Bortkiewicz, A., Gadzicka. E. & Zmyslony, M. (1996). Heart rate variability in workers exposed to medium-frequency electromagnetic fields. (1996). Journal of the Autonomic Nervous System, 59(3), 91-97. "This study was undertaken to evaluate the neurovegetative regulation of the heart in workers occupationally exposed to medium frequency (MF) electromagnetic (EM) fields. The subjects were 71 workers of MF broadcast stations, aged 20-68 (mean 47.1) with the duration of work under exposure ranging from 2-40 years and 22 workers of radio link stations, aged 21-65 (mean 46.9) who were not exposed to MF EM fields ...Thus it was concluded that occupational exposure to EM fields brings about impairments in the neurovegetative regulation of the cardiovascular function. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T05-3W0NBTY-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVer sion=0&_userid=10&md5=5092b3f24908fc119b34ed553692a1a5
Daily, L.E. (1943). A clinical study of the results of exposure of laboratory personnel to radar and high frequency radio. US Navy Med. Bull. 41, 1052-1056. Comment: Increase in immature red blood cells among workers exposed to radar
Dasdag, S., Balci, K., Kaya, H. & Celik, M.S. (1999). Hormone levels of people occupationally exposed to radiofrequencies. Biochem. Arch. 15, 255-260.
Davis, R. L. & Mostofi, F. K. (1993). Cluster of testicular cancer in police officers exposed to hand-held radar. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 24(2), 231-233. "Within a cohort of 340 police officers, six incident cases of testicular cancer occurred between 1979 and 1991 (O/E 6.9; p < 0.001, Poisson distribution). Occupational use of hand-held radar was the only shared risk factor among all six officers, and all routinely held the radar gun directly in close proximity to their testicles." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8213849
Dmoch, A. & Moszczynski, P. (1998). Levels of immunoglobulin and subpopulations of T lymphocytes and NK cells in men occupationally exposed to microwave radiation in frequencies of 6-12 GHz. Medycyna Pracy 49, 45-49 (in Polish).
Drogitschina, E. A. & Sadtschikowa, M. N. (1964). Klinische Syndrome bei der Wirkung von unterschiedlichen Radiofrequenzbereichen. O biologitscheskom wosdejstwii biologitscheskich polej radiotschastot 2, S. 105 Comment: Sample size: 160 workers. Dominant symptoms: Neurasthenia, vegetative syndrome, cardiovascular problems, hypotony, hypoglycaemia.
Finkelstein, M. M. (1998). Cancer incidence among Ontario police officers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 34(2), 157-162 This report presents the results of a retrospective cohort cancer incidence study among 22,197 officers employed by 83 Ontario police departments. The standardized incidence ration (SIR) for all tumors sites was 0.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83-0.98). There was an increased incidence of testicular cancer (SIR = 1.3, 90% CI = 0.9-1.8) and melanoma skin cancer (SIR = 1.45, 90% CI = 1.1-1.9)." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9651625 Comment: Take a look at reported police radar and cancer cases: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54836451
Forman, S. A., Holmes, C. K., McManamon, T. V., & Wedding, W. R. (1982). Psychological symptoms and intermittent hypertension following acute microwave exposure. Journal of Occupational Medicine.: Official Publication of the Industrial Medical Association, 24(11), 932-934. "Two men who were accidentally, acutely irradiated with X-band microwave radiation have been followed up clinically for 12 months. Both men developed similar psychological symptoms, which included emotional lability, irritability, headaches, and insomnia. Several months after the incidents, hypertension was diagnosed in both patients. No organic basis for the psychological problems could be found nor could any secondary cause for the hypertension. A similar syndrome following microwave exposure has been described by the East Europeans. The two cases we report, with comparable subjective symptoms and hypertension following a common exposure, provide further strong, circumstantial evidence of cause and effect. A greater knowledge of the mechanisms involved in bioeffects which may be induced by radiofrequency and microwave radiation is definitely needed." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7175588
Garaj-Vrhovac, V., Gajski, G., Pazanin, S., Sarolic, A, Domijan, AM., Flajs, D. & Peraica, M. (2011). Assessment of cytogenetic damage and oxidative stress in personnel occupationally exposed to the pulsed microwave radiation of marine radar equipment. International Journal of Hygienic Environtal Health, 214(1):59-65. "Study was aimed at workers occupationally exposed to pulsed microwave radiation, originating from marine radars. Electromagnetic field strength was measured at assigned marine radar frequencies (3 GHz, 5.5 GHz and 9.4 GHz) and corresponding specific absorption rate values were determined. ... suggesting that cytogenetic alterations occurred after microwave exposure. ... The glutathione concentration in exposed group was significantly lower than in controls (1.24 vs. 0.53) whereas the concentration of malondialdehyde was significantly higher (1.74 vs. 3.17), indicating oxidative stress. Results suggests that pulsed microwaves from working environment can be the cause of genetic and cell alterations and that oxidative stress can be one of the possible mechanisms of DNA and cell damage." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20833106 Comment: Confirms the previous genotoxic findings of the Garaj-Vrhovac group.
Garaj-Vrhovac, V. (1999). Micronucleus assay and lymphocyte mitotic activity in risk assessment of occupational exposure to microwave radiation. Chemosphere, 39(13), 2301-12. "The effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RFR) on the cell kinetics and genome damages in peripheral blood lymphocytes were determined in lymphocytes of 12 subjects occupationally exposed to microwave radiation. Results showed an increase in frequency of micronuclei (MN) as well as disturbances in the distribution of cells over the first, second and third mitotic division in exposed subjects compared to controls. According to previous reports micronucleus assay can serve as a suitable indicator for the assessment of exposure to genotoxic agents (such as RFR) and the analysis of mitotic activity as an additional parameter for the efficient biomonitoring." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10576101 Comment: Radar exposure, micronuclei development.
Grajewski, B., Cox, C., Schrader, S. M., Murray, W. E., Edwards, R. M., Turner, T. W., et al. (2000). Semen quality and hormone levels among radiofrequency heater operators. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine / American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 42(10), 993-1005. "For 12 male heater operators and a comparison group of 34 RF-unexposed men, we measured 33 parameters of semen quality and four serum hormones. ...We observed minor semen quality and hormonal differences between the groups, including a slightly higher mean follicle-stimulating hormone level for exposed operators (7.6 vs 5.8 mIU/mL)". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11039163
Grayson, J. K. (1996). Radiation exposure, socioeconomic status, and brain tumor risk in the US Air Force: a nested case-control study. American Journal of Epidemiology Mar 1;143(5):480-6. "A nested case-control study was used to investigate the relation between a range of electromagnetic field exposures and brain tumor risk in the US Air Force. Cumulative extremely low frequency and radiofrequency/microwave electromagnetic field potential exposures were estimated from a job-exposure matrix developed for this study. Ionizing radiation exposures were obtained from personal dosimetry records. Men who were exposed to nonionizing electromagnetic fields had a small excess risk for developing brain tumors, with the extremely low frequency and radiofrequency/microwave age-race-senior military rank-adjusted odds ratios being 1.28 (95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.95-1.74) and 1.39 (95% Cl 1.01-1.90), respectively. By contrast, men who were exposed to ionizing radiation had an age-race-senior military rank-adjusted odds ratio of 0.58 (95% Cl 0.22-1.52). These results support a small association between extremely low frequency and radiofrequency/microwave electromagnetic field exposure and no association between ionizing radiation exposure and brain tumors in the US Air Force population. Military rank was consistently associated with brain tumor risk. Officers were more likely than enlisted men to develop brain tumors (age-race-adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.11, 95% Cl 1.48-3.01), and senior officers were at increased risk compared with all other US Air Force members (age-race-adjusted OR = 3.30, 95% Cl 1.99-5.45). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8610663
Goldoni, J. (1990). Hematological changes in peripheral blood of workers occupationally exposed to microwave radiation. Health Physics, 58 , 205-207. "The estimated exposures ranged from 10 PW to 20 mW in a frequency range of 1250-1350 MHz. The numbers of leukocytes and erythrocytes was significantly lower in the radar-exposed technicians." Comment: Flight traffic controllers and radar exposure.
Groves, F. D., Page, W. F., Gridley, G., Lisimaque, L., Stewart, P. A., Tarone, R. E., et al. (2002). Cancer in Korean War Navy Technicians: Mortality Survey after 40 Years. Am. J. Epidemiol., 155(9), 810-818. "There was no evidence of increased brain cancer in the entire cohort (standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7, 1.1) or in high-exposure occupations (SMR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5, 1.0). Testicular cancer deaths also occurred less frequently than expected in the entire cohort and high-exposure occupations. Death rates for several smoking-related diseases were significantly lower in the high-exposure occupations. Nonlymphocytic leukemia was significantly elevated among men in high-exposure occupations but in only one of the three high-exposure occupations, namely, electronics technicians in aviation squadrons (SMR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.3, 3.7). Radar exposure had little effect on mortality in this cohort of US Navy veterans." http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/155/9/810
Hocking, B. (2003). RE: " Cancer in Korean War Navy Technicians: Mortality Survey after 40 Years ". Am. J. Epidemiol., 157(3), 279. "However, in the original article, Robinette et al. stated that "actual exposure to members of each cohort could not be established" (2, p. 39). Even the high-exposure group was said to have exposures probably below 1 mW/cm² during duty hours, although it was also stated that "their exposure pattern... infrequently includes exposures larger than 100 mW/cm²" (2, p. 42). However, there was no interpretation of "infrequently," be it daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. This is a crucial weakness, because the distinction between the maximum and minimum exposure-opportunity groups largely rests on the occurrence of these undefined infrequent high exposures. Because of the ill-defined nature of these exposures, misclassification is likely, and therefore comparisons between the maximum/high and minimum/low exposure groups are tenuous at best. Results should be reported tentatively rather than as if they were part of an established gradient of exposure, as Groves et al. implied in their table 4. ...The main conclusion that can be drawn from the data as presented by Groves et al. is that US Navy veterans of the Korean War who were exposed to radar at undetermined average exposure levels of less than 1 mW/cm² for unspecified durations of less than 5 years do not have increased mortality." http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/157/3/279
Israel, M., Vangelova, K., & Tschobanoff, P. (2006). Study of the secretion of melatonin and stress hormones in operators from broadcasting and TV stations exposed to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation (EMR). In Biolectromagnetics, Current Concepts (pp. 271-280). "Exposure to low level radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from GSM was not found to rise changes in melatonin secretion, but there are no data on the effect of higher radiofrequency intensities, as they usually occur in the occupational environment. The excretion of 6- sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), the main melatonin metabolite, is considered a good indicator of rhythmic melatonin production. The aim of the investigation was to study the effect of radiofrequency EMR on aMT6s and stress hormones excretion rates in communication operators during fast-rotating extended shifts. The study comprised 36 male operators as follows: 12 broadcasting station (BC) operators (6-25 MHz), 12 TV station operators (66.5 - 900 MHz) and 12 satellite (SAT) station operators (5.850 - 6.425 GHz)." http://www.springerlink.com/content/f20360477444m180/
