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Executive Summary
Pages 1-10

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From page 1...
... The report includes a description of the physical nature of GWEN fields and the electrical coupling of GWEN fields to humans, an analysis of current scientific literature bearing on the biological effects of GWEN fields, and evaluations of possible related human-health hazards and options for risk management. A particular effort has been made to interpret the controversial epiderniological data which suggest that a possible link exists between EMF exposure and cancer risk.
From page 2...
... In judging the potential biological effects of EF fields from GWEN transmitters, the committee has therefore analyzed both the substantial literature related to ELF fields and the literature on studies conducted with much higher frequencies in the RF band (primarily microwaves)
From page 3...
... The UHF transmitters in the GWEN system emit signals that are close in frequency to FM radio transmitters and UHF television transmitters. The primary interaction mechanism of these fields involves electrical interactions with dipolar molecules in tissue, and the radiation is absorbed as a function of the depth of penetration inside the body.
From page 4...
... Although changes in calcium ion binding to nerve cell surfaces and in lymphocyte immune functions have been reported after in vitro exposure to AM-RF fields, no such effects have been established for the weak EF fields produced by the GWEN system. Similarly, a variety of tissue responses to relatively high-intensity ELF fields have been reported, but there is no convincing evidence for adverse health effects of induced tissue currents comparable to those produced by GWEN fields.
From page 5...
... HUMAN EVIDENCE Direct evidence of biological effects of EMFs comes from three primary sources-laboratorystudies of human volunteers, epidemiologicalstudies of ELF-exposed populations, and epidemiological studies of populations exposed to AM radio frequencies or to radar or microwaves.
From page 6...
... A number of retrospective epidemiological studies have also reported excess cancer risk among workers thought, by virtue of their job titles, to work in unusual electromagnetic environments. Recent measurements of magnetic-field exposures in these electrically related occupations show that, as a group, such workers are indeed exposed to higher fields.
From page 7...
... A study of proportionate cancer incidence in Hawaii reported elevated risks in census tracts near radio and television broadcast towers, but the study did not adjust for race, age, sex, socio-economic status, or urban-rural effects on cancer rates. The last data source, epidem~ological studies of radar- and m~crowave-exposed populations, is sparse.
From page 8...
... This surveillance activity would be expected to detect any excess cancer risks around broadcast facilities that are larger than the detection threshold of the surveillance apparatus. That no convincing evidence has so far been found suggests that, whatever the public health risks related to broadcast exposure alight be, they are smaller than the detection threshold.
From page 9...
... They include choosing from among candidate sites to avoid those with homes nearby (this is currently an important factor in site selection) , placing the UHFtransmitting antenna in each site so as to minimize UHF exposures of those living nearby, placing the UHF-transmitting antennae on higher poles, increasing the size of the GWEN RN sites to reduce field strengths at the site boundaries, and reducing the number of GWEN RNs in the final GWEN system.
From page 10...
... bout 1be IBIS published In 19871s n~ som~ba1 ou1d~ed, 1be result of 1be present slum orate 1be need for 11s r~s10n.


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