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DIRTY ELECTRICITY AND THE LINK TO CANCER DIRTY ELECTRICITY AND CANCER LINK THE Scientific and medical evidence is growing that electromagnetic fields as well as "transients" from electrical wiring and appliances are responsible for causing a rise in cancer rates and also cancer clusters in workplaces and schools. The Health Hazards of EMFs istory has shown that the western world with its vested interests is slow to inform citizens about toxic agents and help protect them. The “dirty electricity" pandemic is no stranger to inaction, as were the asbestos, lead, acid rain, DDT, PCB and tobacco-smoking public health issues before it. The contention that artificially created electromagnetic fields (EMFs) which emanate from electricity generation can cause cancer has medical and legal experts commenting that EMFs will dwarf the tobacco-smoking issue and the asbestos crisis combined. This health issue has a history replete with destroyed careers and tarnished reputations involving scientists who have sought to help the people, and with so-called experts who have colluded with the forces going against the precautionary principle of public health: first, do no harm. In his assessment for the journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health in the UK, Dr Stephen J. Genuis reported that vested interests have been effective in delaying restrictive EMF legislation. He also noted that claims of environmental harm have been challenged by researchers who fail to disclose covert ties to industry, that economic interests exert undue influence on medical journals, and that some editors and journal staff have suppressed publication of scientific results that are adverse to the interests of industry. Professor Mark Ellwood, who was installed by the Australian federal government in the most elevated position in the nation as Director of the ational Cancer Control Initiative to provide advice and make recommendations to the government and other key groups regarding cancer control, submitted expert witness reports for the power companies (and elecommunications companies) for court cases. Professor Andrew Wood, installed by the federal government in another position that serves to protect us—ARPANSA, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Administration—also submits expert witness reports for the power industry or court cases. Professor Wood is currently chair of the ELF (extremely low requency) Standard Working Group for the ARPANSA Radiation Health Committee. invisible EMFs may be hazardous. Epidemiologist Dr Nancy Wertheimer and electrical engineer Ed Leeper conducted a study in Denver, Colorado, USA, and reported that children who were twice or three times as likely to have leukaemia tended to live in homes close to power lines and transformers. Their results, published in a scientific paper, showed an increased incidence of leukaemia, lymphomas and nervous system tumours in children.’ Their hotly debated research had an immediate effect: in response to public opposition to the construction of new high-voltage power lines, the electricity industry convened an expert panel of eminent and conservative medical scientists. Email: Website: NEXUS «19 by Donna Fisher © 2009 donnafisher@silentfields.com wwwasilentfields.com OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com