Read this Op - Ed! Cellphones implicated in cancer http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201307260126

Breast cancer rates are rising (see links below). Much has been made of the genetic factors increasing the risk for breast cancer. This is important, but many woman are getting it who have none of the identified genes. Not all cancer that "runs" in families is genetically linked. Families share more than genetics. They share environment.

I love the example in Devra Davis' book The Secret History of the War on Cancer:

"Everyone knows that cancer can run in families. Take the Steingrabers of Illinois, the family of the lyrical environmental writer Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream and Having Faith. Hers was a cancer-prone family for sure. The writer-daughter, her mother, three uncles, and a first cousin all got the disease. Could their shared disease have something to do with the pesticide-sodden wheat and cornfields of Illinois, and the the huge grain silos surrounding their small town? We can’t say. But we do know it had nothing to do with shared genes: Sandra and all those with cancer in her family are not related by blood.

Identical twins come from the same egg and share more chromosomes than any other two humans. They are as close to cloning as exists in nature. Despite their similar roots, identical twins do not have identical cancers. Cancer does run in families, but for those who are adopted, like Steingraber, the risk of the disease mirrors that of the families in which they grow up, not those into which they were born." (Bold emphasis added)

This passage shows the fallacy of concluding that familial health outcomes necessarily relate to genetics. There is good reason to believe that recent increases in breast cancer are not genetically related. The rapidly increasing rate is one such reason. The rate of a genetically induced disease should take generations to rise, not rise rapidly on an annual basis. That sort of rise suggests an environmental trigger. I propose radiofrequency exposure as the environmental factor. Radiofrequency exposure can come from electrical pollution (www.electricalpollution.com) or from wireless technology.

The Influence of Being Physically Near to a Cell Phone Transmission Mast on the Incidence of Cancer by Eger et al. (http://emrstop.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=4&Itemid=18) found that "after five years’ operation of the transmitting installation, the relative risk of getting cancer had trebled for the residents of the area [within 400 meters of the cellphone transmission mast]." The RF radiation levels within the 400 meters of the cell phone tower were 100 times higher than the levels outside that proximity. The risk of breast cancer within this area being significantly elevated and occurring nearly twenty years earlier led the authors to propose "A possible question for future research is whether breast cancer can be used as a ‘marker cancer’ for areas where there is high contamination from electromagnetic radiation." Thus, the question is not just one of risk to the users, but those around them as they use their devices and around the transmitters that support the wireless devices and emit constant biologically active levels of radiation. In other words, what additional cancer risk are you willing to accept so that your neighbor can call from the bread aisle of the supermarket to ask whether they should get white or wheat?

Furthermore, what risk are you willing to take to have wireless within your home? Most WiFi systems are, in effect, like having a cell tower installed within the home or building. See this video for measurements done of typical wireless devices and technology - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAnrmJ3un1g&list=UUxs1UgZ6DivWUfG1dX3TELw&index=19.

More and more information is becoming available that highlights the dangers of radiofrequency exposure. A recent peer-reviewed paper provides a strong basis for classifying radiation from wireless devices as a probable carcinogen (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23664410). These scientists are not the first to say that there is a strong basis for classifying radiofrequency radiation, including radiation from common wireless devices and the ubiquitous antennas required to support them, as a probable carcinogen. In an October 2011 presentation at the Harvard Law School (http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2011/11/18_safra-center-cellphone-radiation-corruption.html), Dr. Franz Adlkofer, former executive director of the VERUM Foundation for Behavior and Environment, stated that, “the classification likely would have changed from ‘possibly’ carcinogenic to ‘probably’" had the IARC panel been allowed to consider all the evidence.

The case has been made again for radiofrequency radiation being classified as a class 1 human carcinogen. Dr. Neil Cherry made this case in his paper over ten years ago by reviewing historical radiofrequency radiation studies. Drs. Hardell and Carlberg are asserting it now based on recent studies.

A possible/probable/definite carcinogen definitely does not belong on your body, under your pillow, or in homes, schools, and hospitals. Read "What the Cellphone Industry Doesn't Want You to Know About Radiation Concerns"(http://www.alternet.org/print/personal-health/radiation-concerns-about-cellphones) to find out why you haven't heard this before.

Don't rely on cancer associations to get this right any time soon. The American Cancer Society statements on cell phone and cell tower risk read like industry damage control pieces and contains a number of inaccurate statements like "The energy of RF waves given off by cell phone towers is not enough to break chemical bonds in DNA molecules..." [Double strand DNA damage is caused by a microwave initiated oxidation reaction (peroxide formation), a reaction that is also initiated by ionizing radiation.] and "RF waves have long wavelengths, which can only be concentrated to about an inch or two in size. This makes it unlikely that the energy from RF waves could be concentrated enough to affect individual cells in the body." They should read the 2012 BioInitiative Report (www.bioinitiative.org) which has over a thousand references showing how wrong these statements are. So should you. The Conclusions section found at http://bioinitiative.org/conclusions/

The American Cancer Society has been late off the block with cancer prevention measures before. One notable example was pap smears. It took them 15 years to recommend pap smears for women due to industry influence, in spite of strong evidence of benefit in cervical cancer prevention. Read more about their past history in Devra Davis's book The Secret History of the War on Cancer. Please help cancer associations do better this time, if you are a member send them the Op Ed "Cellphones implicated in cancer" (http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201307260126) and ask that they take action to raise awareness and push for meaningful safety limits.

If you would like to help prevent cancers related to the use of wireless devices, please donate to one of the numerous organizations, working on education, awareness, even litigation, to move toward a public policy that protects public health and take the actions below.

Please pass this on widely to friends and relatives.

Take action!

1. Help spread the word. Email this to friends and family. Link to the articles and videos mentioned here on your Facebook or other social media platforms.

2. Sign this petition:
Petition to move responsibility for RF safety limits to an agency responsible for protecting health and the environment http://www.change.org/petitions/chairman-rockefeller-hold-hearings-to-fire-fcc-and-hire-epa-to-set-rf-radiation-safety-limits

3. Ask your local paper to print the Op Ed "Cellphones implicated in cancer" (http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201307260126) in place of one of their syndicated Op Ed pieces - if they need permission, they can contact me at webmaster@electrical pollution.com

4. Keep your phone (and other wireless devices) off or in airplane mode except for brief emergency use (see www.electricalpollution.com - Safe Wireless Tips)

5. Hardwire your computer, printer, and entertainment equipment and turn the transmitters OFF.

6. Reduce exposure to all sources of radiofrequency exposure see the Solutions page at www.electricalpollution.com

7. If you got this as a forward or found it on the website, join the email list at www.electricalpollution.com by sending an email to webmaster@electricalpollution.com with "Join email list in the subject heading"

8. Contact your Congress people and ask that they work hard to get meaningful biologically-based RF safety limits - the petition above provides a lot of background information you can discuss with them as well as concrete steps they can take.

Breast cancer among young women increasing
The rate of advanced breast cancer for U.S. women 25 to 39 years old nearly doubled from 1976 to 2009, a difference too great to be a matter of chance, a study finds.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/26/science/la-sci-breast-cancer-younger-women-20130227

Military reports alarming breast cancer rates among troops Asbury Park Press
A slew of studies have linked breast cancer with men and women working as radio operators, electricians, telephone repair people and other jobs involving exposure to electromagnetic radiation. -- Chemicals. Army enlisted women younger than under 35 ... If you think breast cancer is just something for your grandmother, mom and aunts to worry about, think again. Not only is breast cancer striking relatively young military women at alarming rates, but male service members, veterans and their dependents are at risk, as well.

http://www.app.com/article/20121002/NJLIFE04/310020028/Military-reports-alarming-breast-cancer-rates-among-troops?odyssey=nav%7Chead&nclick_check=1

An article based on case studies of four women who have breast cancer that was apparently caused by their phones was published recently. The cancer occurred in the breast underneath where the phone was kept. The authors urge a precautionary approach - phones should not be kept in contact with the body. They also urge doctors to ask about cell phone and wireless technology habits as part of history taking. Connections can't be made unless data is collected.