EMF "possibility" (magnetite issue)

["Björn Cedervall" <bjorn_cedervall@hotmail.com>]

>Subject: Re: Comments on the "possibility" that EMF is a human 
>carcinogen



I think that it is meaningless to discuss any positive laboratory

findings before the magnetite issue has been properly controlled for. 
The negative reports of some of the findings in the BEMS journal appear 
in Radiation Research BTW (there is one in the July issue, 1998). These 
negative reports include works by R. Goodman and Lai & Singh among 
others. The magnetite is there in the RPMI media. All attempts to find 
mechanisms for carcinogenesis have so far failed

(key findings cannot be repeated by independent groups).



Anyone with some chemistry background understand that there is room for 
magnetic particles of various shapes and sizes in cells. These paricles 
could differ between laboratories because of "handling history" 
(autoclaving, nearby magnetic instruments, temperature, light, oxygen 
levels and other physico-chemical factors). Therefore, the effects can 
span from anything small like active sites in enzymes to inclusions in 
membrane associated proteins (with subsequent ionic leaks when the 
fields are turned on).



These ideas cannot be ruled out and therefore much of this research is 
meaningless unless magnetite is controlled for. I copy-paste (below) an 
article that was published in Nature, March 1995 by Kobayashi et al. The 
electronic version was picked up at Prof. Joe Kirschvink's website at 
www.caltech.edu  (geobiology/magnetic something is the name of the dept. 
-can't remember at this moment).



Here my own opinions are given - opinions that may not coincide with 
those of others.



bjorn_cedervall@hotmail.com

Stockholm, Sweden

--------------------------------

Nature v.374, p.123, 9 March 1995.

Sir -- The question of whether weak, extremely low-frequency (ELF) 

electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can cause cancer has generated much debate  
recently (e.g., 1,2,3). In addition to epidemiological studies, a 
substantial body of literature exists on EMF stimulation of cells grown 
in vitro (e.g.,4,5). Although numerous effects have been reported, many 
have proven difficult to replicate (e.g., 6,7), and no clear biophysical 
mechanism has emerged. Many of the proposed mechanisms, like ion 
cyclotron resonance(8), have drawn criticism for being physically 
unrealistic (e.g., 9).