W.H.O.’s position on epidemiological studies on mobile communication base stations: an open letter to Emilie van Deventer

Jean-Luc GUILMOT
Rue de Vieusart, 5
1325 Chaumont-Gistoux
BELGIUM
001.focus@gmail.com
www.001.be.cx

January 27, 2009

Copy to: Dr Margaret Chan, WHO General Director

W.H.O.’s position on epidemiological studies on mobile communication base stations

Dear Mrs Emilie van Deventer,
I wrote an open letter to you two and half years ago. Regrettably I never received an answer from you
or your services, despite several courteous recalls. The same apparently happened with other
researchers, such as for instance M. Henrik Eiriksson from www.mast-victims.org who has been
addressing similar issues on many occasions without any answer despites oral promises.
I am therefore replicating and updating my previous demand. I would very much insist upon receiving
a written reply from you before the coming SANCO-EMF-Workshop organized by the European
Directorate Health & Consumers due to be held in Brussels on 11 and 12 February 2009, and which I
will be attending (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/ev_20090211_en.htm).
To date FOURTEEN epidemiological studies on mobile telecommunication base stations have
been published and are referenced either on the EMF WHO database and/or on PUBMED.
Out of these fourteen studies:
· 1 is a mere feasibility study,
· 3 studies (20%) found no increase in the symptoms being analyzed while
· 10 studies (70%) DID find significant increases in the symptoms being analyzed.
These studies comply with the following criteria’s:
a) All these studies are published in peer-review journals and are referenced either on the WHO
database or on PUBMED.
b) All these studies conformed to the standards of scientific quality, including their assessment
criteria of consistency and replication.
c) Several of these studies provide accurate RF exposure measurements.
d) At least three additional epidemiological studies on chronic exposure to mobile phone bases
stations with POSITIVE results have been published in peer-reviewed journals on animals.1
1 Löscher W., Der praktische Tierarzt 84, Heft 11, 850-863 [2003].Die Auswirkungen elektromagnetischer Felder von
Mobilfunksendeanlagen auf Leistung, Gesundheit und Verhalten landwirtschaftlicher Nutztiere: Eine Bestandsaufnahme [Effects of EMF
from phone masts on performances, health and behavior of cattle]; Balmori A., Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 24: 109-119, 2005.
Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields from Phone Masts on a Population of White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Evaert J. , A Possible Effect
of Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Phone Base Stations on the Number of Breeding House Sparrows. Electromagnetic Biology and
Medicine, 26: 63-72, 2007
World Health Organisation
Dr Emilie van Deventer
International EMF Project
20, Avenue Appia
GENEVE - SWITZERLAND
REGISTERED LETTER
e) A PhD thesis (Adang D., 2008) 2 has been presented based on free moving rats being exposed (a
mere!) two hours a day to RF radiations below the ICNIRP recommendations of 41 V/m at 900
Mhz for a period of 21 months. Non-exposed rats showed a standard death rate of 31%, whereas
exposed rats showed a death rate of 59 %, i.e. a doubling in mortality. Even though replications
is (urgently) needed, especially at 3 and 0,6 Volt per meter and care should be used before any
extrapolation to humans, it should be noted that 21 months of life of a rat roughly corresponds to
65 years of life for a human.
f) No other epidemiological study on mobile communication base stations with NEGATIVE results
has been published in peer-review journals.
g) An increasing number of people are being diagnosed as electrosensitive and the trend seems
clearly to be increasing. 3
h) Additionally there are many more examples of epidemiological studies of radio and TV
transmitters with POSITIVE results, also referenced on the WHO database and/or PUBMED,
including the latest Altpeter et al. (2006) study4 - with evidence of decrease of melatonin secretion
on exposed humans - which urge for a rapid and clear change of position from the WHO.
i) We are all aware on the continuous delay since 2006 in the publication of the WHO Interphone
research project initiated in ... 1998, and now apparently due for late 2009, if not yet again
postponed.
On the same time, quite shamefully, no such effort has been made to conduct an integrated
epidemiological research on low intensity chronic exposure to base stations. This relates to the
fact that “WHO”(or at least those in charge of the EMF project) continues to refute the idea that
low energy RF can affect health at all (as exemplified in the May 2006 WHO fact sheet #304).
This is unfortunately based on a very selective analysis of the available literature.5 In this
paper, which you wrote with the former head of WHO-EMF project, M. Repacholi, all the a/m
published epidemiological studies with POSITIVE results are simply left out from your review.
Based on this and the many other papers published on cell culture, plants and animals, statements like: “the
weight of scientific opinion is that there is no substantiated evidence that living near a mobile phone base
station causes adverse health effect ”, can no longer be accepted by independent researchers and scientists.
I hope that this short review will contribute to change your view on this MAJOR issue. The quality of life
of hundred of millions of people is at stake.
I would appreciate to reading your detailed comments on this before February 11, 2009 and to discuss the
issue during the Brussels workshop on February 11, 2009 which I hope you will be attending.
Yours respectfully,
Jean-Luc Guilmot
Bio-Engineer
www.001.be.cx
Enclosure:
10 out of 14 peer-reviewed studies on base stations found significant increases in symptoms
2 Adank D., An Epidemiological Study on Low-level 21-month Microwave Exposure of Rats, Catholic University of Louvain, Applied
Sciences, Hyperfrequences Laboratory & Animal Biology Laboratory, Submitted June 23, 2008
3 Hallberg 0, Oberfeld G., Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, Vol. 25: 189-191, 2006, Letter to the Editor: Will We All Become
Electrosensitive?
4 Altpeter ES et al. Bioelectromagnetics. 2006 Feb;27(2):142-50. Effect of short-wave (6-22 MHz) magnetic fields on sleep quality and
melatonin cycle in humans: the Schwarzenburg shut-down study
5 Repacholi M. & Van Deventer E., Base Stations and Wireless Networks, Radiofrequency (RF) Exposures and Health Consequences,
Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Mar;115(3):416-24. Epub 2006 Nov 6