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     The issue of electromagnetic fields and human health is a controversial scientific, and often
public, issue.  A new book "takes a comprehensive look at the growing EMF controversy, and
explains clearly for non-technical readers the basics of EMF research."  It is fully referenced and
people from health professionals to homeowners will find it useful.  It explains what EMFs are
and where they are found.  It discusses the basic findings and exciting new research related to
bioelectromagnetics; it addresses public dimensions including risk assessment and mitigation;
and it ends with a chapter on prudent avoidance, helping people understand what they can do to
simply and inexpensively reduce exposure.  The authors -- biophysicist Michael Milburn and
biologist Maren Oelbermann -- have been involved with environmental EMFs since 1990,
working for ELMAG Research and Consulting in Waterloo, On, Canada.  Their work on EMF's
has been profiled in the media, and through public speaking and talk shows.  

Here are some excerpts from ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND YOUR HEALTH, by
Michael Milburn and Maren Oelbermann, published by New Star Books, Vancouver, BC     

From Chapter on BASIC SCIENCE

     There is a real sense of excitement and drama surrounding this whole process.  Those
scientists studying cells are making observations that are not, according to conventional
thinking, supposed to occur.  Faced with limited funding and often a lack of support from their
peers, these scientists are none the less pushing ahead to explore what they describe as one of the
scientific frontiers of this century.  The search to observe previously unknown phenomenon is
also joined with the job of explaining how these phenomenon come about.  New medical
breakthroughs and a deeper understanding of the way in which living things work are goals of
this flurry of activity.  The excitement of this scientific frontier is perhaps overshadowed by the
drama inherent in electromagnetic field epidemiology.  As a result of the far reaching
consequences of the outcome of the epidemiological research, the results of each study become
headline news and with public involvement and interest assured, the controversy of this new
subject is heightened.
 

                             In Vitro Studies
 
     Scientists hope that by studying simpler cellular systems, the basic principles of the
interaction between weak energy fields and living things can be understood.  One major
limitation of in vitro experimentation however, is that the results and conclusions of studies
carried out on cells in a test tube cannot easily be used to predict how humans or animals will
respond to electromagnetic energy fields.  This is due to the complexity of physiological systems
composed of groups of cells which interact to make up a complete organism.  In vitro
experiments represent only one level of the overall effort to learn more about how weak
electromagnetic energy fields can affect living things; further scientific research is still required
to answer questions about human interactions with weak fields. 

Examples of In Vitro Research
     
     Our immune system helps to defend against viruses and bacteria and its role in preventing the
excessive growth of cancerous cells continues to be investigated.   The health of the immune
system is intimately connected to the proper functioning of the whole body.  It is of interest then,
to determine all the factors which might influence the immune system.  Weak electromagnetic
energy fields are now being studied in this context.
      In vitro experiments with cellular components of the immune system have been carried out
by D.B. Lyle and his co-workers.9  These researchers found a 25 percent reduction in the activity
of T-lymphocytes that were exposed to 60 Hz electric fields. The T-lymphocytes are white blood
cells that helps to destroy antigens as part of an immune response.  A reduced competency of the
immune system due to electromagnetic energy fields may be related to the question of cancer.     
Other researchers have also chosen T-lymphocytes to study immune system electromagnetic
field effects.10  Calcium plays an important role in acting as a signal between the exterior and
the interior of the cell and interference with the calcium signal has been shown to cause
significant changes in cell behaviour.  These researchers examined whether electromagnetic
fields could influence the cells immune response by producing changes in the calcium signal. 
They felt that if changes in calcium signalling could be observed, important features of the
immune system may be influenced by electromagnetic fields.      The researchers' results were
quite interesting.  If the T-lymphocytes used in these studies did not have their calcium
signalling stimulated, then the cells showed no response to weak fields.  However, when the
cells were activated by an immune stimulating molecule, there was a response to
electromagnetic fields.  In one experiment, for example, the researchers observed a 2.4 fold
increase in calcium transport after cells were immune-stimulated.  If these same cells were
exposed to 60 Hz fields, a 3.9-fold increase in calcium transport occurred after immune-
stimulation of the cell.  These results demonstrate once again that fields, theoretically too weak
to be biologically important, can affect fundamental processes of living organisms.      One of
the scientists involved in this research, Dr. Jan Walleczek, suggests that weak electromagnetic
fields may thus be able to influence human and animal immune responses.  He mentions that six
laboratories have in fact, observed immune system changes in animals as a result of field
exposure.  


                    From Chapter on  PUBLIC DIMENSIONS

     A specific example from electromagnetic field risks will help to demonstrate these first
stages.  The Feychting-Ahlbom study of power line fields and caner (see Chapter 3) showed a
link between magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia.  It was a powerful study because it found
a dose-response relationship -- exposure to stronger magnetic fields meant higher risks.  A dose-
response relationship means an association between magnetic fields and childhood cancer can be
more confidently made, and the risks form different fields can be more precisely determined. 
The Feychting-Ahlbom study prompted Jack Nou the Director of Electrical Safety for the
Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technological Development to comment that a field-
cancer link is 80 per cent certain and that his board must take action now and not wait until the
100 per cent level is achieved.1 Nou was quoted in the New Scientist saying that because of the
Feychting-Ahlbom study,m he will proceed on the assumption that there is a link between power
line magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia.  In the first stage of the risk process, Nou noted
that in the Swedish population as a whole, 3.5 new cases childhood leukaemia could be expected
each year and as an example of the second stage, that he will make a careful study of the costs of
reducing exposures in a report to the government.

      There is an obvious need for public involvement in risk management decisions and
fortunately there is a movement in risk management towards this end.  Before we explore
examples of how the electromagnetic fields and health issue has entered the public domain, we
can highlight the need for public involvement in risk management decisions by quoting Dr. M.
Granger Morgan, head of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon
University, and a researcher long involved in risk analysis and management.  Morgan represents
this positive and long overdue trend for a recognition of the importance of public involvement in
deciding how we `manage' the technologies around us.

     "My experience and that of my colleagues indicate that the public can be very sensible about
risk when companies, regulators and other institutions give it the opportunity.  Laypeople have
different, broader definitions of risk, which in important respects can be more rational than the
narrow ones used by experts.  Furthermore, risk management is, fundamentally, a question of
values.  In a democratic society, there is no acceptable way to make these choices without
involving the citizens who will be affected by them.2

                                        Legal Issues
     "Utilities across the country are feeling the heat.  Since the mid 1980's, power      companies
have been involved in more than 100 lawsuits involving possible health      hazards from
transmission lines, especially those near schools.  The patchwork of      lawsuits, public hearings
and local government rulings is having a direct impact."11  --      from Transmission and
Distribution, a trade magazine for electrical Utility Managers  

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND YOUR HEALTH, by Michael Milburn and Maren
Oelbermann (NEW STAR BOOKS, Vancouver, BC) is available at better bookstores across the
US and Canada or can be ordered directly from the authors for $15.00 US ($12. + $3.00 S/H) or
in Canada for $20.00 Canadian, including S/H and GST:

ELMAG Research and Consulting
Suite 11-421 Barrie Place
Waterloo, On Canada N2L 3Z6

The publisher can be contacted at:  
New Star Books
Voice (604) 738-9429
Fax:    (604) 738-9332