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Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing with information about an environmental toxin which is already causing health problems, shortening lives, and causing disability. The environmental toxin is radiofrequency pollution. From A.M. Best's February 14, 2013 Best's Briefing - "Emerging Technology-Based Risks"
According to the Department of Interior "the electromagnetic [radiofrequency] radiation standards used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continue to be based on thermal heating, a criterion now nearly 30 years out of date and inapplicable today." (http://www.saferemr. In addition to being thermally-based and unenforced, the inadequate FCC radiofrequency radiation limits do not even address an important source of radiofrequency exposure - electrical pollution. There are two sources of radiofrequency exposure. One is transmitted radiofrequency radiation from wireless technology. Exposures can come from personal devices, ambient sources such as antennas, WiFi, and other people's gadgets, and transmitting utility meters - also called smart meters, AMR meters, etc. I have included a series of video links below to get you a relatively quick overview of the problem. If you prefer reading material, here are a couple of links to strongly worded statements from medical professionals warning against having WiFi in schools http://wifiinschools.
Often the lack of known mechanism is cited as an objection to taking precautionary action. "Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects(http://www.ncbi.nlm. Right now sources of radiofrequency exposure are enjoying a great deal of popularity, however that does not make the danger any less, in fact it makes the societal harm much greater. Just as smoking was popular, use of asbestos was common, and lead paint was ubiquitous - things can change. Experts are calling for better safety standards (ones that actually protect against biological effects) -http://www.prlog.org/ More and more information is becoming available that highlights the dangers of radiofrequency exposure. The safety of radiofrequency radiation, utilized by all wireless devices, is seriously in question. Reputable scientists are calling for it to classified as a probable carcinogen http://www. What can you do?
Please see www.electricalpollution. Enclosures:
Contact the Webmaster at webmaster@ Receive updates: join the electrical pollution email list by typing "join email list" in the subject heading when you email. |
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Open Letter to Insurance Companies
Infant exposures to electronic article surveillance systems
Dosimetry for infant exposures to electronic article surveillance system: Posture, physical dimension and anatomy
Abstract
Li C, Wu T. Dosimetry for infant exposures to electronic article surveillance system: Posture, physical dimension and anatomy. Bioelectromagnetics. 2015 Mar 10. doi: 10.1002/bem.21901. [Epub ahead of print]
The use of electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems has become popular in many public sites. As a consequence, concern has risen about infant exposure to magnetic fields (MFs) from this kind of device.
To evaluate infant exposure to MFs of an EAS system (operating at 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz), we numerically compared dosimetric results among adult, child and infant models.
Results revealed that postures insignificantly influenced dosimetric results if there was a similar cross-sectional area under exposure. Although safety limits are unlikely to be exceeded, the infant has higher SAR values for brain and central nervous system tissues compared with adult (1.5x at 125 kHz and 112x at 13.56 MHz), which deserve further investigation. Infant's specific anatomy (e.g., non-proportionally large head and high fat content) did not induce higher SAR values. The numerical models developed in the study (stroller and postured infant models) could be freely used for nonprofit academic research.
http://1.usa.gov/1Ecjvcf
Excerpts
Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems have been widely installed in stores and libraries to prevent pilferage of merchandise or books. One major component of a typical EAS system is a detection system, which includes one or multiple coils with alternating driving currents to generate magnetic fields (MFs). Its operational frequency varies from several Hertz to 20 MHz.
Recently, EAS systems were reported to have been used in hospitals, nurseries and maternity wards to track children, infants and neonates [Saito et al., 2013]. Particular concerns regarding the minors' EMF safety evoked keen discussions on the standards' conservativeness [Gandhi and Kang, 2001; Martinéz-Búrdalo et al., 2010; Fiocchi et al., 2011a,b; Fiocchi et al., 2013]. Neonate and child models age of 5 or older were used in the studies. Some studies observed overexposure for the minor's brain in terms of current density (J). However, analysis on the infant (defined as a young child between the ages of several weeks and 24 months) has never been reported due to lack of numerical model ...
In conclusion, exposure of postured infant models to MF of an EAS system did not induce significant dosimetric variability for torso and PNS tissues if the CSA under exposure was similar. Infant brain and CNS tissues had much higher dosimetric results compared to the adult; the infant head was in the intensified MF region due to its particular height. Although basic restrictions were unlikely to be exceeded when current reference levels and product compliance measurement methods were applied (Table 1), further attention to head exposure of shorter models is needed. At higher frequencies, calculating pSAR10g for torso and head together will conceal higher values in infant brain/CNS tissues. Infant anatomy (e.g., disproportionally large head and high fat content) would not certainly induce higher dosimetric results. In this study, we evaluated exposure cases at 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz, two typically lower and higher operational frequencies of the EAS system. Results depended on the relative heights of the model and EAS coil rather than on specific frequency. Thus, results were representative for other frequencies.
EAS and stroller models in this study were not representative of any commercial products to protect proprietary interests of manufacturers. However, parameters were typical and similar protocols applied in many peer-reviewed papers relating to exposure to EAS systems [Gandhi and Kang, 2001; Martinéz-Búrdalo et al., 2010]. In our simulations, distance between the EAS gate and human/stroller model was 20 cm, consistent with the measurement standard [CENELEC, 2001a]. The height of the EAS installation was selected so that the infant head fell in the central intensified MF region, which could be regarded as the worst case for the head exposure. In all, we kept generality in selecting simulation parameters.
Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems have been widely installed in stores and libraries to prevent pilferage of merchandise or books. One major component of a typical EAS system is a detection system, which includes one or multiple coils with alternating driving currents to generate magnetic fields (MFs). Its operational frequency varies from several Hertz to 20 MHz.
Recently, EAS systems were reported to have been used in hospitals, nurseries and maternity wards to track children, infants and neonates [Saito et al., 2013]. Particular concerns regarding the minors' EMF safety evoked keen discussions on the standards' conservativeness [Gandhi and Kang, 2001; Martinéz-Búrdalo et al., 2010; Fiocchi et al., 2011a,b; Fiocchi et al., 2013]. Neonate and child models age of 5 or older were used in the studies. Some studies observed overexposure for the minor's brain in terms of current density (J). However, analysis on the infant (defined as a young child between the ages of several weeks and 24 months) has never been reported due to lack of numerical model ...
In conclusion, exposure of postured infant models to MF of an EAS system did not induce significant dosimetric variability for torso and PNS tissues if the CSA under exposure was similar. Infant brain and CNS tissues had much higher dosimetric results compared to the adult; the infant head was in the intensified MF region due to its particular height. Although basic restrictions were unlikely to be exceeded when current reference levels and product compliance measurement methods were applied (Table 1), further attention to head exposure of shorter models is needed. At higher frequencies, calculating pSAR10g for torso and head together will conceal higher values in infant brain/CNS tissues. Infant anatomy (e.g., disproportionally large head and high fat content) would not certainly induce higher dosimetric results. In this study, we evaluated exposure cases at 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz, two typically lower and higher operational frequencies of the EAS system. Results depended on the relative heights of the model and EAS coil rather than on specific frequency. Thus, results were representative for other frequencies.
EAS and stroller models in this study were not representative of any commercial products to protect proprietary interests of manufacturers. However, parameters were typical and similar protocols applied in many peer-reviewed papers relating to exposure to EAS systems [Gandhi and Kang, 2001; Martinéz-Búrdalo et al., 2010]. In our simulations, distance between the EAS gate and human/stroller model was 20 cm, consistent with the measurement standard [CENELEC, 2001a]. The height of the EAS installation was selected so that the infant head fell in the central intensified MF region, which could be regarded as the worst case for the head exposure. In all, we kept generality in selecting simulation parameters.
--
Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
Website: http://www.saferemr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaferE
News Releases: http://pressroom.prlog.org/
Twitter: @berkeleyprc
Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
Website: http://www.saferemr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaferE
News Releases: http://pressroom.prlog.org/
Twitter: @berkeleyprc
Friday, March 13, 2015
Smart Meter Over-billing Issues in Quebec
Smart Meter Over-billing Issues in Quebec
Lots of people in Quebec with overbilling issues will soon be faced with the same predicament as this man, because on April 1st Hydro-Québec will again have the right to cut power to those deemed late in their payments - even if the amounts due are fraudulent. And the most astounding thing in the first video there, is that the BC Hydro worker has an Accenture card as his sole identification.... I'm sure you know very well about Accenture's 12-year involvement with BC Hydro - I've put together for you ( see after the following health-related excerpt from my next newsletter ) various revealing info about Accenture, just to be sure you are aware of this... And interestingly, the smart meter fiasco in Ontario (Ontario Smart Meter Fiasco Wins Government "Waste Award" - Ontario Ombudsman details 'shocking' billing practices at Hydro One) may also have much to do with Accenture's involvement there: Accenture providing Hydro One Networks with asset management analytics solution...
SO HERE IS A SALIENT EXCERPT FROM MY NEXT NEWSLETTER
It's about a breakthrough German study that may finally precipitate a change to the World Health Organization's classification of EMF from possibly to probably carcinogenic and, even soon, proven carcinogenic for man. I'm sure you'll be interested in this info... My comments below are in French - from my French newsletter
ÇA C'EST L'ÉTUDE QUI TUE TOUTE FORME DE PRÉTENTION D'INNOCUITÉ DES MICRO-ONDES ÉMISES PAR LES CELLULAIRES ET LES COMPTEURS INTELLIGENTS!
En plus, les appareils 'intelligents' rendent les gens complètement accros à leurs bidules... On se demande ce qu'il y a d'intelligent là-dedans!
Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans
Prof. Dr. Alexander Lerchl, Melanie Klose, Karen Grote, Adalbert F.X. Wilhelm, Oliver Spathmann, Thomas Fiedler, Joachim Streckert, Volkert Hansen, Markus Clemens.
Received 19 February 2015, Accepted 25 February 2015, Available online 6 March 2015
Highlights
* Tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF exposed mice have been reported in 2010.
* We have replicated the study with higher numbers of mice per group.
* We could fully confirm the previous results, thus the effects are reproducible.
* Apparently, no clear dose-response relationship is evident.
* We hypothesize that metabolic changes are responsible for the effects observed.
* Tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF exposed mice have been reported in 2010.
* We have replicated the study with higher numbers of mice per group.
* We could fully confirm the previous results, thus the effects are reproducible.
* Apparently, no clear dose-response relationship is evident.
* We hypothesize that metabolic changes are responsible for the effects observed.
Abstract
The vast majority of in vitro and in vivo studies did not find cancerogenic effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), i.e. emitted by mobile phones and base stations. Previously published results from a pilot study with carcinogen-treated mice, however, suggested tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF (Tillmann et al., 2010). We have performed a replication study using higher numbers of animals per group and including two additional exposure levels (0 (sham), 0.04, 0.4 and 2 W/kg SAR). We could confirm and extend the originally reported findings. Numbers of tumors of the lungs and livers in exposed animals were significantly higher than in sham-exposed controls. In addition, lymphomas were also found to be significantly elevated by exposure. A clear dose-response effect is absent. We hypothesize that these tumor-promoting effects may be caused by metabolic changes due to exposure. Since many of the tumor-promoting effects in our study were seen at low to moderate exposure levels (0.04 and 0.4 W/kg SAR), thus well below exposure limits for the users of mobile phones, further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Our findings may help to understand the repeatedly reported increased incidences of brain tumors in heavy users of mobile phones.
UNE PRÉSENTATION VULGARISÉE DE LA MÊME ÉTUDE
RF Cancer Promotion:Animal Study Makes Waves (March 13, 2015)
The RF-cancer story took a remarkable turn a few days ago. A new animal study challenged many of the assumptions which lie at the heart of claims that RF radiation -whether from cell phones, cell towers or Wi-Fi- are safe.The new study, from Germany, a replication of an earlier experiment, also from Germany, found that weak cell phone signals can promote the growth of tumors in mice. It used radiation levels that do not cause heating and are well below current safety standards. Complicating matters even further, lower doses were often found to be more effective tumor promoters than higher levels; in effect, turning the conventional concept of a linear dose-response on its head.
(...) Lerchl has shown that mice exposed in the womb with a known cancer agent, ENU, and then exposed to a UMTS cell phone signal had significantly higher rates of tumors of the liver and the lung, as well as of lymphoma than with ENU alone. (UMTS is a third generation, 3G, system based on GSM.) His study was designed to repeat, with a larger number of animals, an experiment published in 2010 by Thomas Tillmann of the Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine in Hannover. When Tillmann first presented his results a couple of years earlier, he called them "remarkable" (see "3G Can Promote Tumors"). Since then, the study has been largely ignored -until now.
(...) "Our results show that electromagnetic fields obviously enhance the growth of tumors," says Lerchl in a press release issued by Jacobs University in Bremen, where he is a professor of biology.
(...) Enough To Change RF to a "Probable" from "Possible" Cancer Agent?
Current RF standards are based on the assumption that exposures below 4 W/Kg are safe and the radiation does not entail a cancer risk. "The fact that both studies found the same tumor-promoting effects at levels below the accepted exposure limits for humans is worrying," write Lerchl and his colleagues. Beyond the safety standards is the equally controversial issue of cancer. In 2011, a panel convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified RF as a possible human carcinogen. At the time, the panel stated that there was only "limited evidence" of cancer promotion from animal studies. The confirmation of the Tillmann study by Lerchl could change that. (The panel had little to say about the Tillmann paper; see p.279 of the IARC RF Monograph.)
"This new study, in conjunction with previous work, makes a much stronger case for an IARC classification of 2A, a probable human carcinogen," said David Carpenter, the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment in Albany, NY, in an interview.
Lung Cancer Linked to Pulsed EMFs in 1994
While most RF-cancer studies have looked at brain tumors, as well as acoustic neuroma, a major French and Canadian epidemiological study found a "strong" association between pulsed EMF signals and lung cancer among electric utility workers back in 1994. The nature of that link could not be sorted out because the sponsor, Hydro-Québec, blocked further access to the data set (see our report: MWN, N/D94, p.1 and p.4). We asked Paul Héroux, who designed the EMF meter for the French-Canadian study, about the Lerchl paper. "There are some obvious parallels between the new German study and what we showed 20 years ago," he told us, "both show exposure to pulsed electromagnetic energy, both show EMFs to be a cancer promoter and both show a link to lung cancer."
ESPÉRONS QUE CETTE ÉTUDE NE SUBIRA PAS LE MÊME SORT QUE CETTE AUTRE ÉTUDE DATANT DE 1994 (!!!) QUI A ÉTÉENTERRÉE PAR HYDRO-QUÉBEC - ELLE DÉMONTRAIT UN LIEN INDISCUTABLE ENTRE L'EXPOSITION D'EMPLOYÉS D'HYDRO À DE PUISSANTS CHAMPS ÉLECTROMAGNÉTIQUES (les monteurs de ligne notamment) ET LE DÉVELOPPEMENT RAPIDE D'UN CANCER DU POUMON CHEZ CEUX D'ENTRE EUX QUI ÉTAIENT DES FUMEURS... SHAME ON YOU HYDRO-QUÉBEC!!
Hydro-Québec Bars Further Work on Transient Data by McGill University
Hydro-Québec (HQ), a Canadian electric utility, is refusing to allow researchers at McGill University the opportunity to analyze further the data collected in the $3 million Canadian - French epidemiological study released earlier this year (see MWN, M/A94). "I can't use the data anymore," said Dr. Gilles Thériault, who led the research project and is the chair of the De- partment of Occupational Health at McGill University's medical school in Montreal. "It's in the contract that the data belong to the utility and so I can't use them."
Dr. Claude Cardinal, HQ's electromagnetic field (EMF) program manager, confirmed that the utility is barring further access to the data. "All the data belong to the utilities and there is no mandate to start a new analysis," Cardinal told Microwave News. Dr. Michel Plante, an HQ medical adviser in Montreal who has been a utility liaison to the McGill team, said: "We have a contract problem that has to be solved and there will be no new mandate until it is solved."
HQ officials are furious about the November release of a paper by the McGill team that shows an up - to - tenfold increased risk of lung cancer for exposures to high frequency transients (HFTs) (see p.4). "We never planned to collect the HFT data and there is no mention of HFTs in the specifications of the study," Cardinal said. Plante argued that by publishing the HFT results, Thériault had violated an agreement with the util- ities. Thériault countered that, although he was under intense pressure not to work on transients, "It has always been clear that I would analyze the HFT data and that if I found something, I would inform everybody."
No lawsuits have yet been filed by either side, both Thériault and Plante said. But Thériault did say that, "Both parties have consulted lawyers." Plante said that talks to resolve the disagreement are continuing between HQ and McGill.
Thériault told Microwave News that he felt a professional obligation to release the transient findings because of their potential significance. "The HFT observation deserves the at- tention of my scientific colleagues." He said that, "This is the first epidemiological data to support the promotion hypothesis," referring to the possible synergy between HFTs and the carcinogenic chemicals in cigarette smoke. "My interpretation is that the HFT data may turn out not to be important, but, at this point, we don't know - we should find out."
In its paper, published in the American Journal of Epidemi- ology, the McGill team explained that if the association between lung cancer and HFTs is causal, it "would have substantial implications for public health." Dr. Anders Ahlbom of the Karo- linska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, echoed this concern: "Clearly, if the HFT-cancer link is true, it makes a big difference to public health because lung cancer is a very common disease."
In addition to measuring 50/60 Hz EMFs, the Positron dosimeter used in the study also measured HFTs. The meter was originally designed by Dr. Paul Héroux while he was working at IREQ, the research arm of HQ. Héroux is now at McGill and collaborates with Thériault. "HQ sponsored the development of the meter and at the beginning they were very pleased to have the HFT data," Thériault said. "But in the middle of the study they did not want to use it anymore."
News of HQ's decision to block further analysis of the HFT data stunned many of those at the Department of Energy's (DOE) annual EMF research review, held in Albuquerque, NM, November 7-10, though it was never formally acknowl- edged. Most of those interviewed at the meeting were incredu- lous that the HFT finding was not being actively pursued.
Dr. Samuel Milham, an epidemiologist and consultant based in Olympia, WA, said that the contrast between the 50/ 60 Hz links to brain cancer and leukemia in previous studies and the HFT link to lung cancer in the McGill study is "like black and white." "Clearly there is something different about HFT exposures that needs to be followed up."
"It's unfortunate for the sake of science," said Dr. David Savitz of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "There's a lot of work that can be done with the data."And Dr. Jerry Williams, the director of Johns Hopkins University's Radiobiology Laboratory in Baltimore, said, "I cannot understand anyone not wanting to pursue this."Both Dr. Nancy Wertheimer, based in Boulder, CO, and Dr. Richard Stevens of the Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs in Richland, WA, commented that limiting access to the data was "outrageous." Wertheimer said that, "The results should be out there so that others can work on them." And Stevens added that, "The utility is shooting itself in the foot. The cover-up will draw much more attention than the results." CLIP [MALHEUREUSEMENT CE N'EST PAS CE QUI S'EST PRODUIT...]
- Tiré de http://microwavenews.com/
* * *
As you can see at https://
As you can see in this Polaris Institute Report...
February 2003 - The Canadian Province of British Columbia's Crown (Province owned) Corporation BC Hydro and Accenture, signed a 10-year $1.45 CDN deal in which a newly formed subsidiary of Accenture, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited, will take over BC Hydro's customer services, information technology services, network computing services, human resource services, financial systems, purchasing and building and office services. The deal completes a process begun by BC Hydro in October 2001 of looking to the private sector to take over some of the utility's services. The deal has produced an outcry from many British Columbians, including a class-action lawsuit brought against BC Hydro and the Province, who claim that the deal is the beginning of the total privatization of hydro services in the Province.
(...)
Province of Ontario, Canada - Accenture has a huge, problem-filled contract, to 'streamline' the delivery of welfare in Ontario (see problem contracts below). In 2000 and 2001, Accenture gave $20,000 Canadian to the governing Tories. Interestingly, they started making donations to the Tories only after the Tory government's Accenture contract was given a scathing review by the Provincial auditor, and they were forced to renegotiate the contract. Said Deputy Liberal Leader Sandra Pupatello: "They [Accenture] were fearing that they were going to lose the contract altogether because the government was taking far too much heat on this contract. Then, suddenly, they started contributing to the PC Coffers" (Hamilton Spectator ['Briefly' Section] "Tory Welfare Donations Under Fire" October 25, 2001; "Consulting Firm Boosts PC Coffers, Liberals Say" Richard Brennan, Toronto Star, October 25th, 2001)
They have HUGE cost overrun problems it seems in everything there are involved.
The Auditor General of Ontario in 1998, on the unexplained massive increase in Accenture's contract price in Ontario's Welfare privatization: "We could find no documentation or any evidence at all as to how it moved from Andersen's [Accenture's] estimate (of between $50 to $70 million) to $180 million, and why it was agreed upon."
Jerri New, President of the Office and Professional Employees Union Local 378 (which represents employees of BC Hydro and Accenture), making comments in February 2003 after the BC Hydro/Accenture deal was announced: "This Privatization is now final, but this is the first chance British Columbians have had to see any of the details. There has been no chance for public review of this huge change, as it's all been done in secret until now."
So apparently this 10-year deal was renewed in BC...
Also from HERE, more on some of the 'problems' plaguing this company...
WELLOGIX VS ACCENTURE
En mai 2013, une cour d'appel des ÉU a réaffirmé un jugement contre Accenture (1) de payer 44.4 M$ à Wellogix Inc pour avoir volé leur technologie et s'être approprié malicieusement de ses secrets de fabrication. Accenture fut condamnée à payer 26.2 M$ en compensation pour dommages et 18.2 M$ pour dommages punitifs
(1) http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/
En mai 2013, une cour d'appel des ÉU a réaffirmé un jugement contre Accenture (1) de payer 44.4 M$ à Wellogix Inc pour avoir volé leur technologie et s'être approprié malicieusement de ses secrets de fabrication. Accenture fut condamnée à payer 26.2 M$ en compensation pour dommages et 18.2 M$ pour dommages punitifs
(1) http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/
U.S. DOJ JOINS LAWSUIT AGAINST HP, SUN, ACCENTURE
Suit alleges that the three companies formed an alliance with vendors and have been giving each other kickbacks on government contracts since the late 1990s (1).
Accenture received more than $20 million in payments from alliance partners between 2000 and 2006, the DOJ alleged. In some cases, the alleged kickbacks came in the form of stock purchase agreements, the DOJ said in its filing.
(1) http://www.infoworld.com/t/
$64 MILLION SETTLEMENT
The Department of Justice has announced that a $64 million settlement has been reached in a whistleblower lawsuit filed in Eastern District of Arkansas (1) against Accenture LLP which alleged the technology service company rigged bids, inflated prices, and paid kickbacks.
(1) http://www.
CONNECTICUT SUES ACCENTURE FOR LOSING PRIVATE DATA
Accenture, a company for technology services and consultancy, was sued by the state of Connecticut for losing confidential information (1) related to hundreds of accounts in the state's banks and 58 Connecticut taxpayers.
(1) http://www.spamfighter.com/
MICROSOFT AND ACCENTURE JOINT VENTURE AVANADE SUED OVER ALLEGED ERP PROJECT FAILURE (1)
ScanSource says Avanade lied about its ability to do the job, resulting in a project disaster.
(1) http://www.computerworlduk.
BRITISH GAS SUES ACCENTURE (1)
British Gas is suing Accenture for £182m in costs connected to the failure of a new billing system put in place by the consultants in 2006.
Problems with the system led to a massive increase in complaints against the gas supplier. Centrica, British Gas's parent company, has already written off £200m due to problems with the system.
(1) http://www.theregister.co.uk/
CONSULTING FIRM DISCRIMINATED BY USING A 10-YEAR-OLD CONVICTION RECORD
The first class action against Accenture Inc. , holds the consulting firm discriminated by using a 10-year-old conviction record to automatically disqualify Roberto Arroyo from a full-time job even after he'd proven himself (1). The second alleges the U.S. Census Bureau's requirement that all applicants be run through the FBI database and provide proof of the dispositions of any arrests, was onerous and discriminatory.
(1) http://www.
CONSULTING AND OUTSOURCING FIRM DISCRIMINATED AGAINST OLDER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKERS
Law360 (1), New York (April 26, 2010, 3:42 PM ET) - Accenture LLP has been hit with a class action alleging the consulting and outsourcing firm discriminated against older information technology workers.
(1) http://www.law360.com/
CASE NO. 30-2011-00496293-CU-OE-CXC (1)
On August 1, 2011, a former salaried, exempt employee of Accenture Inc. (« Accenture ») filed a lawsuit seeking to represent a class of current and former « exempt » employees of Accenture who worked in California in any Analyst, and similarly situated positions, from August 1, 2007 to the present. The lawsuit alleges that Accenture failed to pay its information and technology (« IT ») workers overtime, failed to provide meal periods, failed to provide rest periods, failed to timely pay wages to employees at the time of separation from Accenture, failed to provide accurate itemized statements, and implemented unfair business practices.
(1) http://www.garaylaw.com/Info-
THE COMPANY HAD A HAND IN THE NOTORIOUS PURGE OF SUSPECTED FELONS FROM FLORIDA VOTER LISTS
A circuit court judge ruled on June 2, 2005 (1) that the Elections Board's director did not have the authority to enter into the agreement with Accenture, but nevertheless upheld the contract on the grounds that the board retroactively ratified the contract on January 27, 2005 - more than a month after the contract was legally challenged.
The selection of Accenture to develop Wisconsin 's voter registration list is particularly controversial. The company had a hand in the notorious purge of suspected felons from Florida voter lists before the 2004 elections. More on Accenture's role in the Florida felon purge.
(1) http://www.wisdc.org/
HERE ARE COMPLEMENTARY LINKS (for the Bcc recipients of this email) about Accenture's involvement with Hydro-Québec...
Des employés étrangers travaillent chez Hydro-Québec
http://argent.canoe.ca/
Une firme mandatée par Hydro-Québec fait travailler plusieurs dizaines d'employés étrangers en Inde, à l'Île Maurice, mais également à Montréal, a appris TVA Nouvelles. Depuis plusieurs années, Hydro-Québec donne des contrats à Accenture, la plus grande compagnie de conseil au monde.Cette firme a conseillé la société d'État dans le dossier des compteurs intelligents, mais s'occupe aussi du système informatisé des appels des clients qui a englouti jusqu'ici au moins 537 millions $ après plusieurs dépassements de coûts.Mais cette entreprise n'hésite pas à engager des travailleurs étrangers. Entre 30 à 40 employés travaillent en Inde ou à l'Île Maurice sur des mandats d'Hydro-Québec. Parallèlement, la firme engagée par Hydro-Québec a aussi fait l'embauche de travailleurs étrangers (une soixantaine) de toutes nationalités au 700, de la Gauchetière à Montréal, directement dans les bureaux d'Hydro-Québec. Contacté à cet effet, le syndicat des spécialistes et des professionnels d'Hydro-Québec a dénoncé vertement la société d'État.
(...) Hydro-Québec a confirmé ce partenariat avec la société Accenture, contrat qui devrait prendre fin en 2016. «Hydro a un contrat forfaitaire avec Accenture pour des besoins spécifiques temporaires pour différents mandats à l'intérieur de l'organisation», a souligné Patrice Lavoie, porte-parole à Hydro-Québec.
Compteurs intelligents - Hydro minimise l'hypersensibilité http://www.ledevoir.com/
Les bénéfices d'Accenture
La firme Accenture, qui «accompagne» le projet de compteurs intelligents d'Hydro-Québec, a reconnu hier avoir une relation d'affaires avec au moins un fournisseur de services d'Hydro-Québec lié à ce projet, qu'elle refuse d'identifier, a admis le responsable de cette firme internationale, Bruno Lafeytaud. Ce dernier a reconnu avoir fourni à Hydro-Québec ses connaissances du marché, que plusieurs procureurs de différents groupes s'acharnent à miner depuis deux jours.
L'Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA) et Stratégies énergétiques (SE) ont durement critiqué cette entreprise en signalant que son rapport d'évaluation contient une mise en garde qui aurait dû «susciter de la prudence» chez Hydro, écrivent-ils. Accenture y précise qu'elle est «habilitée à revendre divers produits et services et/ou à recevoir divers bénéfices ou compensations de ces fournisseurs, que ce soit sous la forme de frais ou autrement». Hydro aurait reconnu que ces «alliances peuvent être bénéfiques à Accenture», mais s'en accommode.
La firme Accenture, qui «accompagne» le projet de compteurs intelligents d'Hydro-Québec, a reconnu hier avoir une relation d'affaires avec au moins un fournisseur de services d'Hydro-Québec lié à ce projet, qu'elle refuse d'identifier, a admis le responsable de cette firme internationale, Bruno Lafeytaud. Ce dernier a reconnu avoir fourni à Hydro-Québec ses connaissances du marché, que plusieurs procureurs de différents groupes s'acharnent à miner depuis deux jours.
L'Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA) et Stratégies énergétiques (SE) ont durement critiqué cette entreprise en signalant que son rapport d'évaluation contient une mise en garde qui aurait dû «susciter de la prudence» chez Hydro, écrivent-ils. Accenture y précise qu'elle est «habilitée à revendre divers produits et services et/ou à recevoir divers bénéfices ou compensations de ces fournisseurs, que ce soit sous la forme de frais ou autrement». Hydro aurait reconnu que ces «alliances peuvent être bénéfiques à Accenture», mais s'en accommode.
Ce qui n'a pas été le cas du gouvernement des États-Unis qui a poursuivi Accenture en 2007 sous une cinquantaine de chefs d'accusation, lui reprochant d'avoir conseillé à des ministères et organismes publics des systèmes ou équipements de sociétés commerciales qui la récompensaient par en arrière en argent, en actions, en réductions, etc. Accenture a réglé cette poursuite à l'amiable pour 63 millions sans reconnaître de culpabilité.
Parmi les commentaires:
L'ombre d'Enron sur Hydro-Québec?
Résumons. Hydro-Québec paye Accenture pour, on le suppose, des conseils éclairés, neutres et impartiaux sur le choix du meilleur compteur à acheter. Or, non contente d'accepter ce mandat d'Hydro-Québec, Accenture informe cette dernière qu'elle pourrait aussi accepter une rétribution de l'autre partie, c'est-à-dire une entreprise qui vend les compteurs. Où sont l'objectivité et la neutralité de cette firme qui mange à tous les râteliers?
Résumons. Hydro-Québec paye Accenture pour, on le suppose, des conseils éclairés, neutres et impartiaux sur le choix du meilleur compteur à acheter. Or, non contente d'accepter ce mandat d'Hydro-Québec, Accenture informe cette dernière qu'elle pourrait aussi accepter une rétribution de l'autre partie, c'est-à-dire une entreprise qui vend les compteurs. Où sont l'objectivité et la neutralité de cette firme qui mange à tous les râteliers?
N'est-ce pas sur les cendres de la défunte Arthur Andersen qu'est née la firme conseil Accenture? Et n'est-ce pas Arthur Andersen qui était complice de la funeste Enron, le courtier en énergie électrique pour lequel son ex-dirigeant Jeff Skilling est toujours à purger sa peine de prison pour malversations? Accenture est-elle de la même farine que son ancienne compagnie mère? L'ombre d'Enron plane-t-elle sur Hydro-Québec?
COMPTEURS INTELLIGENTS, COMMENT LE LOUP CONÇOIT-IL LE FUTUR DE LA BERGERIE http://detonateur.blogspot.ca/
(...)
Accenture
Comme Hydro-Québec l'a mentionné à plusieurs reprises devant la Régie de l'énergie, elle a mandaté la firme multimilliardaire d'envergure mondiale Accenture, sûrement à très grands frais, pour « évaluer » son Projet de lecture à distance (LAD), obtenir conseils et recommandations pour la prise de décisions stratégiques, la gestion de son réseau maillé et le choix de la technologie la plus rentable pour Hydro-Québec, soit les compteurs «intelligents» à radiofréquences de Landis+Gyr, et d'Elster pour les Phases 2 et 3, installés gratuitement, et en option de retrait les compteurs d'Itron «non communicants».
(...) Nous constatons qu'Hydro-Québec s'est fait prendre dans les filets du Cisco Smart Grid Ecosystem impliquant Landis+Gyr, Elster et Itron avec ses partenaires corporatifs de l'Internet of Things, Accenture étant le traditionnel joueur de flûte enchantée qui a attiré Hydro-Québec dans son giron entouré de toutes ses alliances avec qui Hydro-Québec n'a pas le choix de faire affaires: Landis+Gyr, Elster, Itron, Capgemini, C3Energy pour ne nommer qu'elles, déjà sous contrat. Hydro-Québec s'étant alliée à la gouvernance mondiale avec Accenture, son Projet ne peut qu'aboutir à nous exploiter davantage.
Le site internet d'Accenture nous apprend notamment que : «Accenture est une entreprise mondiale de conseil en gestion, de services technologiques et d'impartition, comptant plus de 305 000 employés au service de clients dans plus de 120 pays.»
( ... ) « Accenture collabore avec les clients pour les aider à devenir des entreprises et des gouvernements hautement performants. L'entreprise a généré un revenu net de 30,0 milliards $ pour l'année financière ayant pris fin le 31 août 2014.»
Voir la suite dans le site internet d'Accenture : http://www.accenture.com/ca-
Dans la décision de la Régie de l'Énergie du 5 octobre 2012, à la section 4.2.2 Choix technologique (paragraphes [26] à [29]), Hydro-Québec fait remarquer à la Régie que son conseiller, la firme Accenture, a confirmé son choix, lui a dit que cette technologie était la norme de l'industrie, etc. Hydro-Québec mentionne également qu'elle suit toutes les recommandations de ses consultants d'Accenture. Voir pp. 10-31 chapitre 4. Position du Distributeur :
Hydro-Québec déclare que son Projet rencontre toutes les recommandations de la National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), une agence du Département du Commerce des États-Unis. Mais ses compteurs ne sont pas approuvés CSA ni UL au Canada.Est-ce qu'Hydro-Québec est devenue une compagnie privée américaine ? Même ses Conditions de Service ont été modifiées récemment pour se conformer au format international sur les instructions d'Accenture.
Nous retenons d'une recherche sommaire que la firme Accenture s'appelait Andersen Consulting jusqu'en janvier 2001, qu'elle était liée à la firme de comptables agréés Arthur Andersen connue pour son rôle dans le célèbre scandale Enron. En 2001, le groupe de consultants Andersen Consulting s'est détaché de l'infâme Arthur Andersen, a changé de nom pour celui d'Accenture et s'est trouvé une adresse en Irlande (paradis fiscal) avant la faillite d'Arthur Andersen en 2002.
Depuis lors, Accenture est devenue une spécialiste internationale de la gouvernance mondiale. Ce qui nous trouble, c'est que les gens d'Accenture ont toute une histoire d'escroqueries. Ils encadrent étroitement leurs clients, ils mènent le bal et leur garantissent des revenus inégalés grâce à leur expertise, leurs conseils en gestion et l'utilisation optimale des compteurs intelligents, de l'Infrastructure de Mesurage Avancé (IMA) et des technologies de l'information (TI). Et parfois, trop souvent, ils mènent leurs clients à des pertes financières importantes.
Accenture offre de multiples services; entre autres, elle recommande à ses clients à travers le monde la vente à des tiers des métadonnées dont leurs clients disposent, comme celles qui seront stockées en permanence dans la base des compteurs électroniques, communicants ou non, et prêtes à être analysées et exploitées par des compagnies faisant partie des réseaux «intelligents» (Smart Grid) de Landis+Gyr et Itron.
Hydro-Québec aurait déjà donné un contrat à la compagnie américaine C3Energy [VOIR : HYDRO-QUÉBEC SE DONNE AUX AMÉRICAINS «Au lieu de soutenir l'emploi local, la Société d'État favorise des entreprises étrangères. Et la dernière? C'est une entreprise californienne qui rafle le contrat de traitement des données des nouveaux compteurs intelligents.» ET Compteurs intelligents: les données transférées à une entreprise des É.-U. - AINSI LA NSA, ENTRE AUTRES, VA POUVOIR Y ACCÉDER PLUS FACILEMENT...], le partenaire obligé lorsqu'on mandate Accenture, pour le traitement des données d'Hydro-Québec, i.e. tous les détails de notre consommation d'électricité provenant des compteurs intelligents ou non-communicants.
Liste des Alliances avec Accenture :
Voir les courtes vidéos suivantes expliquant «Comment faire beaucoup d'argent avec les données obtenues de vos clients»; plus elles sont raffinées, plus elles prennent de la valeur.
Data Monetizing
Data Supply Chain: Data is Currency, Seize the Benefits https://youtu.be/crl_M9o7NZc?
Hydro-Québec nous promet qu'elle prendra toutes les mesures nécessaires pour assurer la protection de nos renseignements. Permettez-nous d'en douter puisqu'elle obéit à Accenture; le Gouvernement du Québec, ancien et présent, semble avoir abdiqué au profit d'Accenture. Dans quelle aventure, quel pétrin, Hydro-Québec nous entraîne-t-elle ?
(...)
BRISER LE MYTHE du 1% de refus des compteurs
Il faut briser ce mythe qu'Hydro-Québec fait circuler à l'effet que «seulement 1% des Québécois dans la Phase 1 de son déploiement auraient refusé son compteur nouvelle génération («intelligent») de Landis+Gyr.
Le 1% de refus est le seuil établi par Accenture pour qualifier de succès l'implantation des compteurs intelligents. HQ n'a probablement compté que les clients qui ont choisi l'option de retrait pour un compteur non-communicant (Itron C1S) avec frais d'installation et de relève; nombreux sont ceux qui croient erronément que le «non-communicant» est le compteur mécanique à roulette qu'ils pourront conserver; grave erreur, ce dernier n'est pas une option; si on veut le garder par principe de précaution, il faut le protéger;
a) Hydro-Québec se targue d'une grande acceptabilité sociale de ses compteurs, mais les gens n'ont pas «accepté» le nouveau compteur; il leur a été imposé, bien souvent à leur insu et même contre leur gré, sous les menaces, sans leur consentement libre et éclairé; de plus, Hydro-Québec interprète un avis écrit de non-consentement à leurs deux compteurs comme étant un refus non- valide, donc, un refus non-comptabilisé;
b) Hydro-Québec n'obtient pas de ses clients le consentement libre et éclairé requis pour procéder au déploiement. D'ailleurs, un sondage Léger avait démontré en avril 2014 que 50% de la population n'en voulait pas de leurs compteurs intelligents. Voir le sondage Léger avril 2014; http://jegardemoncompteur.com/
c) le compteur «intelligent» est gratuit, il est installé en quelques minutes, sans avertissement et sans faire de bruit, par les employés de Capgemini qui ne sont PAS des maîtres électriciens; tout se déploie sans aucune connaissance de la part de l'abonné; donc, on ne peut pas parler d'un consentement libre et éclairé; nombreux sont ceux qui ignorent que leur compteur a été remplacé;
d) il y aurait quelque 100 000 clients d'Hydro-Québec dans la Phase 1 qui ont réussi à garder leur compteur mécanique à roulette (nombre à confirmer après vérification);
e) les gens ne connaissent pas la nature de la bête qui sera apposée au mur de leur résidence, mais dès qu'ils sont mis au courant par des gens bien informés, la très grande majorité de ces gens refusent les deux compteurs et veulent savoir comment protéger leur compteur électromécanique à roulette; de plus en plus souvent, il est déjà trop tard, le mal est déjà fait; ces gens pourront se prévaloir de l'option de retrait maintenant que les frais punitifs ont été réduits sensiblement; CLIP
https://rubiconcrossroad.
German Cell Phone Study Shows Weak Cell Phone Signals Promote Tumor Growth
RF Cancer Promotion: Animal Study Makes Waves
In 2010, a study was published [4] showing tumor-promoting effects of life-long exposure to RF-EMF (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS) at moderate exposure levels in mice treated with a carcinogen (ethylnitrosourea, ENU) in utero. Those results were potentially influenced by an unexpected infection with Helicobacter hepaticus (which may have had an influence on the pathological findings in the liver, as suggested by the authors). Nevertheless the data showed clear effects of RF-EMF exposure on the incidences of lung and liver tumors. We have replicated this study with higher numbers of animals per group, but otherwise under similar conditions, in order to clarify whether the previously reported results could be confirmed. In addition, two additional SAR levels of exposure (low and high) were included in order to investigate possible dose-response relationships. Furthermore, we ensured that we did not have any infection with Helicobacter species in our animals.
... Special care was taken to repeat the study by Tillmann et al. [4] as accurately as possible. Male C3H/HeNCrl (n = 43) and female C57Bl/6N (n = 290) mice were purchased in a staggered design from Charles River Germany, Sulzfeld, Germany, at an age of 8 – 9 weeks. After acclimatization, at the age of 12 weeks (females), the males and 128 females were mated for one week (ratio 3 females: 1 male) in two rounds, thus a total of 256 potentially pregnant females were obtained. They were distributed to the 128 cages of the exposure devices, two animals per cage. Exposure or sham-exposure of the pregnant females thus started at day 6 p.c. (post conception) ...
The exposure devices consisted of eight radial waveguides with 16 cages each, arranged in stacks of two and connected to power amplifiers and RF-generators. Details have been published earlier [5]. Extensive numerical calculations of the field distributions and the corresponding SAR values revealed unavoidable substantial variations for animals in different positions and within animals (local maximum SAR values) which could be as much as 3 – 5 times higher than the whole-body SAR. Two waveguides per exposure group with 16 cages each (32 cages in total, 96 animals) were one out of four groups with the following nominal whole-body SAR levels: sham-exposed (0 W/kg), 0.04 W/kg (low), 0.4 W/kg (moderate) and 2 W/kg (high) for a reference configuration of three mice (body weight 20 g each) per cage, with a standard deviation for this configuration of around 36% ...
As compared to the sham-exposed control mice, numbers of animals with bronchiolo-alveolar adenomas (lungs) were doubled at low and moderate SAR levels, and hepatocellular carcinomas were nearly or more than doubled at low, moderate, and high SAR levels, respectively. The numbers of multiple tumors were found to be significantly elevated at 0.04 W/kg (bronchiolo-alveolar adenomas, Table S1). The numbers of animals with lymphomas were increased 2.5 fold at moderate SAR levels (Fig. 1, Table 1). No increased tumor numbers were found in the brains, kidneys, and spleens of the exposed animals. Here the tumor rates were well below 10%. As expected, survival times in all ENU-treated animals were much lower than in cage controls, but not affected by exposure (Fig. S1). Body weights of (sham-) exposed animals were only slightly different from untreated, unexposed cage-control mice (Fig. S2).
The fact that both studies found basically the same tumor-promoting effects at levels below the accepted (and in most countries legally defined) exposure limits for humans is worrying. Although animal experiments are generally not easily transferable to the situation in humans, the findings are a very clear indication that – in principal – tumor-promoting effects of life-long RF-EMF exposure may occur at levels supposedly too low to cause thermal effects. The basis for defining safety guidelines regarding RF-EMF exposure by mobile phones and other RF-EMF emitting devices relies on the assumption that increases in temperature above a certain threshold are the only way how exposure can cause damage (thermal effects). These are clearly prevented by the exposure limits. However, the RF-EMF energy absorbed by the tissues or organisms, respectively, is converted to thermal energy regardless the exposure dose. As a consequence, this thermal energy influences to some extent the energy balance of tissue and the entire organism. It was shown that RF-EMF exposure at low levels (0.08 W/kg) causes increased body weights in hamsters which indicates a shift in metabolism of food [14]. Other experiments in hamsters have shown that the consumption of food and the production of CO2 is decreased by RF-EMF exposure, albeit only at relatively high SAR-levels [15]. It is therefore plausible to assume that RF-EMF energy, when absorbed and converted into thermal energy, influences metabolism and energy balance to some extent which may play a role for the observed tumor-promoting effects.
In this context it is important that the carcinogen ENU was administered to the pregnant mice at day 14 of pregnancy. We do not know at which time periods after the treatment with the carcinogen the tumor-promoting effects occurred. Early studies [16] clearly demonstrated that the prenatal time point of ENU-administration is crucial for the development of tumors in the adult. Since the carcinogen was administered to the pregnant females while being already exposed to RF-EMF, it is possible that immediately after ENU-treatment the promoting effects happened. Alternatively, they occurred during the later stages of development. Another possibility why tumor-promoting effects were seen in both studies is that the uptake of the carcinogen by the fetuses was higher in the exposed animals due to elevated metabolism. Studies addressing this question are clearly needed.
The results of our study also stress the importance of exposure conditions in replication studies which are unfortunately often slightly or substantially different from the original studies. For example, Repacholi and co-workers have shown tumor-promoting effects in transgenic mice prone for developing lymphomas [18]. Two replication studies did not confirm these effects [19] and [20]. Both replication studies, however, deviated from the original study in several ways. Not only were the exposure times different, but also were the mice in the replication studies exposed while restrained (in tubes), whereas in the original study the mice were non-restrained. While restrained animals allow exposure at comparably low SAR variations, the physiological and metabolic situations are fundamentally different in comparison to freely moving animals [21]. In fact, the unavoidable SAR variations in non-restrained, freely moving animals may turn out to be of key importance for the understanding of tumor-promoting effects.
--
Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
Website: http://www.saferemr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaferE
News Releases: http://pressroom.prlog.org/
Twitter: @berkeleyprc
Germany’s Alex Lerchl Does a U-Turn
Microwave News, Mar 13, 2015
The RF–cancer story took a remarkable turn a few days ago. A new animal study challenged many of the assumptions which lie at the heart of claims that RF radiation —whether from cell phones, cell towers or Wi-Fi— are safe.
The new study, from Germany, a replication of an earlier experiment, also from Germany, found that weak cell phone signals can promote the growth of tumors in mice. It used radiation levels that do not cause heating and are well below current safety standards. Complicating matters even further, lower doses were often found to be more effective tumor promoters than higher levels; in effect, turning the conventional concept of a linear dose-response on its head.
And for those with the stamina to have stayed tuned to the slow-moving RF–health soap opera, the new paper offers an unexpected surprise. The lead author of new animal study is Alex Lerchl, who for years has charged that the only science showing low-level RF effects is bad science. Now the one whom activists had accused of being an industry lackey is being hailed as a hero.
Read the full story on Microwave News: http://bit.ly/1FaOkPH
Read the full story on Microwave News: http://bit.ly/1FaOkPH
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Joel's comments (from March 7, 2015): This is an important study on several accounts. First, the study demonstrates that the tumor-enhancing effects from exposure to UMTS (3G) cell phone radiation observed in a previous animal study are reproducible. Reproducibility is one of the foundations of the scientific method.
Second, the study did not find a dose-response effect. Rather "many of the tumor-promoting effects in our study were seen at low to moderate exposure levels (0.04 and 0.4 W/kg SAR), thus well below exposure limits for the users of mobile phones." The tumor-promoting effects were not observed when the animals were exposed to 2.0 W/kg SAR, the legal limit in many countries outside the U.S. (where the limit is 1.6 W/kg.) The SAR exposure limits adopted by most countries assumes a dose-response relationship between the exposure and adverse health effects. The nonlinear effects observed in this study suggest that the SAR methodology is inadequate to protect human health.
Third, The authors explain why some researchers have had difficulty in reproducing the results of earlier studies -- their methods deviate in critical ways from the original experiments. Hence, these so-called "replication studies" fail to reproduce the effects observed in earlier studies.
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Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans
Alexander Lerchl, Melanie Klose, Karen Grote, Adalbert F.X. Wilhelm, Oliver Spathmann, Thomas Fiedler, Joachim Streckert ,Volkert Hansenc, Markus Clemens. Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Available online 6 March 2015.
Abstract
Excerpts--
Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans
Alexander Lerchl, Melanie Klose, Karen Grote, Adalbert F.X. Wilhelm, Oliver Spathmann, Thomas Fiedler, Joachim Streckert ,Volkert Hansenc, Markus Clemens. Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Available online 6 March 2015.
Abstract
The vast majority of in vitro and in vivo studies did not find cancerogenic effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), i.e.emitted by mobile phones and base stations. Previously published results from a pilot study with carcinogen-treated mice, however, suggested tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF (Tillmann et al., 2010).
We have performed a replication study using higher numbers of animals per group and including two additional exposure levels (0 (sham), 0.04, 0.4 and 2 W/kg SAR).
We could confirm and extend the originally reported findings. Numbers of tumors of the lungs and livers in exposed animals were significantly higher than in sham-exposed controls. In addition, lymphomas were also found to be significantly elevated by exposure.
A clear dose-response effect is absent. We hypothesize that these tumor-promoting effects may be caused by metabolic changes due to exposure. Since many of the tumor-promoting effects in our study were seen at low to moderate exposure levels (0.04 and 0.4 W/kg SAR), thus well below exposure limits for the users of mobile phones, further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms.
Our findings may help to understand the repeatedly reported increased incidences of brain tumors in heavy users of mobile phones.
Highlights
http://bit.ly/1EXI3HqWe have performed a replication study using higher numbers of animals per group and including two additional exposure levels (0 (sham), 0.04, 0.4 and 2 W/kg SAR).
We could confirm and extend the originally reported findings. Numbers of tumors of the lungs and livers in exposed animals were significantly higher than in sham-exposed controls. In addition, lymphomas were also found to be significantly elevated by exposure.
A clear dose-response effect is absent. We hypothesize that these tumor-promoting effects may be caused by metabolic changes due to exposure. Since many of the tumor-promoting effects in our study were seen at low to moderate exposure levels (0.04 and 0.4 W/kg SAR), thus well below exposure limits for the users of mobile phones, further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms.
Our findings may help to understand the repeatedly reported increased incidences of brain tumors in heavy users of mobile phones.
Highlights
- • Tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF exposed mice have been reported in 2010.
- • We have replicated the study with higher numbers of mice per group.
- • We could fully confirm the previous results, thus the effects are reproducible.
- • Apparently, no clear dose-response relationship is evident.
- • We hypothesize that metabolic changes are responsible for the effects observed.
In 2010, a study was published [4] showing tumor-promoting effects of life-long exposure to RF-EMF (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS) at moderate exposure levels in mice treated with a carcinogen (ethylnitrosourea, ENU) in utero. Those results were potentially influenced by an unexpected infection with Helicobacter hepaticus (which may have had an influence on the pathological findings in the liver, as suggested by the authors). Nevertheless the data showed clear effects of RF-EMF exposure on the incidences of lung and liver tumors. We have replicated this study with higher numbers of animals per group, but otherwise under similar conditions, in order to clarify whether the previously reported results could be confirmed. In addition, two additional SAR levels of exposure (low and high) were included in order to investigate possible dose-response relationships. Furthermore, we ensured that we did not have any infection with Helicobacter species in our animals.
... Special care was taken to repeat the study by Tillmann et al. [4] as accurately as possible. Male C3H/HeNCrl (n = 43) and female C57Bl/6N (n = 290) mice were purchased in a staggered design from Charles River Germany, Sulzfeld, Germany, at an age of 8 – 9 weeks. After acclimatization, at the age of 12 weeks (females), the males and 128 females were mated for one week (ratio 3 females: 1 male) in two rounds, thus a total of 256 potentially pregnant females were obtained. They were distributed to the 128 cages of the exposure devices, two animals per cage. Exposure or sham-exposure of the pregnant females thus started at day 6 p.c. (post conception) ...
The exposure devices consisted of eight radial waveguides with 16 cages each, arranged in stacks of two and connected to power amplifiers and RF-generators. Details have been published earlier [5]. Extensive numerical calculations of the field distributions and the corresponding SAR values revealed unavoidable substantial variations for animals in different positions and within animals (local maximum SAR values) which could be as much as 3 – 5 times higher than the whole-body SAR. Two waveguides per exposure group with 16 cages each (32 cages in total, 96 animals) were one out of four groups with the following nominal whole-body SAR levels: sham-exposed (0 W/kg), 0.04 W/kg (low), 0.4 W/kg (moderate) and 2 W/kg (high) for a reference configuration of three mice (body weight 20 g each) per cage, with a standard deviation for this configuration of around 36% ...
As compared to the sham-exposed control mice, numbers of animals with bronchiolo-alveolar adenomas (lungs) were doubled at low and moderate SAR levels, and hepatocellular carcinomas were nearly or more than doubled at low, moderate, and high SAR levels, respectively. The numbers of multiple tumors were found to be significantly elevated at 0.04 W/kg (bronchiolo-alveolar adenomas, Table S1). The numbers of animals with lymphomas were increased 2.5 fold at moderate SAR levels (Fig. 1, Table 1). No increased tumor numbers were found in the brains, kidneys, and spleens of the exposed animals. Here the tumor rates were well below 10%. As expected, survival times in all ENU-treated animals were much lower than in cage controls, but not affected by exposure (Fig. S1). Body weights of (sham-) exposed animals were only slightly different from untreated, unexposed cage-control mice (Fig. S2).
The fact that both studies found basically the same tumor-promoting effects at levels below the accepted (and in most countries legally defined) exposure limits for humans is worrying. Although animal experiments are generally not easily transferable to the situation in humans, the findings are a very clear indication that – in principal – tumor-promoting effects of life-long RF-EMF exposure may occur at levels supposedly too low to cause thermal effects. The basis for defining safety guidelines regarding RF-EMF exposure by mobile phones and other RF-EMF emitting devices relies on the assumption that increases in temperature above a certain threshold are the only way how exposure can cause damage (thermal effects). These are clearly prevented by the exposure limits. However, the RF-EMF energy absorbed by the tissues or organisms, respectively, is converted to thermal energy regardless the exposure dose. As a consequence, this thermal energy influences to some extent the energy balance of tissue and the entire organism. It was shown that RF-EMF exposure at low levels (0.08 W/kg) causes increased body weights in hamsters which indicates a shift in metabolism of food [14]. Other experiments in hamsters have shown that the consumption of food and the production of CO2 is decreased by RF-EMF exposure, albeit only at relatively high SAR-levels [15]. It is therefore plausible to assume that RF-EMF energy, when absorbed and converted into thermal energy, influences metabolism and energy balance to some extent which may play a role for the observed tumor-promoting effects.
In this context it is important that the carcinogen ENU was administered to the pregnant mice at day 14 of pregnancy. We do not know at which time periods after the treatment with the carcinogen the tumor-promoting effects occurred. Early studies [16] clearly demonstrated that the prenatal time point of ENU-administration is crucial for the development of tumors in the adult. Since the carcinogen was administered to the pregnant females while being already exposed to RF-EMF, it is possible that immediately after ENU-treatment the promoting effects happened. Alternatively, they occurred during the later stages of development. Another possibility why tumor-promoting effects were seen in both studies is that the uptake of the carcinogen by the fetuses was higher in the exposed animals due to elevated metabolism. Studies addressing this question are clearly needed.
The results of our study also stress the importance of exposure conditions in replication studies which are unfortunately often slightly or substantially different from the original studies. For example, Repacholi and co-workers have shown tumor-promoting effects in transgenic mice prone for developing lymphomas [18]. Two replication studies did not confirm these effects [19] and [20]. Both replication studies, however, deviated from the original study in several ways. Not only were the exposure times different, but also were the mice in the replication studies exposed while restrained (in tubes), whereas in the original study the mice were non-restrained. While restrained animals allow exposure at comparably low SAR variations, the physiological and metabolic situations are fundamentally different in comparison to freely moving animals [21]. In fact, the unavoidable SAR variations in non-restrained, freely moving animals may turn out to be of key importance for the understanding of tumor-promoting effects.
Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
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