the night sky (Section 1);

wildlife and ecology (Section 2);

human health (Section 3);

public safety (Section 4);

energy security and climate change (Section 5);

and social justice (Section 6).

It also includes a discussion of the emerging threat from light pollution caused by objects orbiting the Earth (Section 7).

Finally, it concludes with a discussion of the knowledge gaps that exist within these topics and the research questions whose answers can fill the gaps (Section 8).

It is intended be useful to those seeking to broaden their understanding of research on the causes and consequences of artificial light at night.

Source:

https://www.darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SOTS-post-final-version-220527.pdf

https://www.darksky.org/artificial-light-at-night-state-of-the-science-2022-report/

The post Artificial Light at Night: State of the Science 2022 International Dark-Sky Association appeared first on EMFSA.

This section may be useful to the public, patients, and to journalists trying to better understand predatory journals.

What is a predatory journal?

When a researcher finishes a study, they aim to publish their research findings in an academic journal. There are many legitimate academic journals, but some journals are not legitimate. These ‘fake journals’ are called predatory journals. Predatory journals don’t operate according to best practices for publishing. They may not provide peer review (in which other experts in the field review the work before publication) or may provide inadequate peer review. They also may not be indexed or archived (stored in databases) to ensure their content is accessible and preserved, and they may publish ethically questionable work. This means that the expected ‘checks’ that legitimate journals do may not be present at predatory journals.

Some predatory journals ‘stand alone’, meaning the journal is published independently by itself. Other predatory journals are produced by a publisher – in this case predatory publishers may own and publish articles from multiple independent predatory journals.

Read more and watch the explanatory videos at http://www.ohri.ca/journalology/oss-patients-and-public

The post A non-technical summary of predatory journals and the impact they could have on the patient community appeared first on EMFSA.

Full report:

EMFSA: Note, from the report below:

“A trend is emerging, which becomes clear even when taking these methodological weaknesses into account, i.e., that EMF exposure, even in the low dose range, may well lead to changes in cellular oxidative balance.”

The post Full report published related to BERENIS newsletter on oxidative stress of electromagnetic fields: biological effects and consequences for health. appeared first on EMFSA.

Some conspiracy theorists are linking 5G to the coronavirus. There is no causal connection between 5G technology and any biological virus, including the COVID-19. The second concern around 5G is that it emits radiofrequency radiation that is dangerous to human health. The word radiation is scary because it is linked to nuclear bombs. Nuclear radiation is ionising and can modify the DNA and destroy cells. Non-ionising radiation like high frequency electromagnetic waves are non-ionising and therefore, are not as dangerous. We, however, should invest in research on the health impact of 5G. (Emphasis added by EMFSA)

EMFSA comments:

-We would have added “do not damage cells DIRECTLY“, rather “INDIRECTLY” to the above paragraph.

-We agree that 5G does not cause COVID-19.

-Yes to multidisciplinary research on the health impacts of not only 5G, but EMF exposures in general.

Professor Marwala is the author of Closing the Gap: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa. Read the book review by Andries Nel at https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-today

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Webinar with doctoral candidate and multidisciplinary researcher J.C.Lech

•Research and regulatory updates

•Why are some court cases not successful?

Date: Sunday, December 6th, 2020

Time: 3pm – 4pm (SAST)

Cost: no charge

“For the Safer use of Technology”

The post EMFSA November 2020 Newsletter appeared first on EMFSA.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) — Ballwin is one of the latest cities asked to be home to an AT&T 5G cell phone tower. The 5G technology is promoted as being a more reliable network and provides faster service, but not everyone is on board.

Amy Weinstein and Ken Dubinsky bought their Ballwin home nine years ago. The cell phone tower would be built just yards from the back of their home. The couple is fighting to get the 5G tower put in a different location. While the impact the 100-foot tower could have on their property value is a concern, it’s not their only fear. 

“My wife is a cancer survivor, my daughter is a cancer survivor. It’s just a case that, I don’t want to hear in 20 years that oh they have discovered there are health risks. There’s just too much unknown to take that chance,” said Dubinsky.

Read the full article (video available) at https://www.kmov.com/news/west-county-residents-push-back-against-proposed-5g-cell-tower-theres-just-too-much-unknown/article_2e83dbd6-f49c-11ea-b7bf-2776ed6d0a3f.html

The post West County residents push back against proposed 5G cell tower: ‘There’s just too much unknown’ appeared first on EMFSA.

https://www.saferemr.com/2019/07/recent-research.html

The post 20 New Papers on Electromagnetic Fields and Biology or Health: Electromagnetic Radiation Safety September 9, 2020 appeared first on EMFSA.

16 JUL 2020 By Linda Nordling

Treasury’s ultimatum to science department: Slash your budgets or we’ll cut them for you

Thousands of postgraduate and PhD grants. Hundreds of research grants. The National Science Week. Research chairs and centres of excellence. These are some of the victims of South Africa’s pandemic budget cuts unveiled in a marathon parliamentary committee session on 15 July. 

The cuts total 16 per cent of the 2020/21 budget of the Department of Science and Innovation. They are “tradeoffs” between the need to save money and the need to sustain South Africa’s innovation system, said Phil Mjwara, DSI director-general, during the live-streamed virtual briefing.

Mjwara said that earlier this year, as the negative effects of the coronavirus on the country’s budget became evident, Treasury came to the department with an ultimatum: Either the DSI would help it identify areas to cut this year, or the Treasury would cut the budget for the department. “We think we’ve done the best [we could],” Mjwara said. 

One of the department’s ‘wins’ was to convince Treasury to count the R340 million (US$20.5m) that it had already repriorised toward Covid-19 research in this financial year towards its overall savings target, Mjwara added. This meant that instead of a 20 per cent cut to its budget, which is what Treasury had at first demanded, the DSI ended up with the 16 per cent cut outlined in June’s emergency budget. 

More than a dozen science officials and administrators from South Africa’s top research funders participated in the briefing. They outlined how the cuts would affect the detailed budgets of the DSI as well as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Research Foundation. 

Read more at: https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-africa-south-2020-7-this-is-the-butcher-s-bill-for-south-africa-s-science-cuts/

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From a scientific point of view, many uncertainties exist regarding electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). While there are numerous individuals who claim to suffer from health problems due to EMF
exposure, many experimental studies conducted on this topic have not been able to establish a causal relationship with EMF.

The systematic review conducted by Schmiedchen et al. (2019) focused on published blinded experimental studies in volunteers in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz with study participants claiming to suffer from EHS. The analysis aimed at evaluating these studies with regard to their methodological limitations, since the respective study approaches can lead to biased results due to implicit assumptions. The authors performed a “risk of bias” assessment by evaluating the individual studies with regard to possible systematic bias. Such bias can occur, for example, if some of the study participants had physical illnesses that could explain their EHS symptoms, or due to the sequence and duration of the exposure conditions applied, since these can result in different stress levels.

A total of 28 studies were included in the analysis, 7 of which found statistically significant associations between EMF exposure and health effects in EHS persons. Both increased and decreased occurrence of symptoms was observed under exposure conditions. However, 21 studies found no evidence that the symptoms reported by the study participants were related to EMF exposure. For 82% of the studies examined, the authors criticized the heterogeneity of the study participants, as the exposure scenarios applied were probably not suitable for some of the participants. This could have led to false negative results (i.e. a study does not find a link between exposure and symptoms, eventhough it does exist) if effects only occur under very specific exposure conditions. The results of studies with relatively few methodological limitations show less likely exposure-related effects. In almost one third of the studies examined, the nocebo effect plays a role with regard to symptoms in people with EHS. According to the authors, this review suggests absence of a causal relationship between EMF exposure and health effects.

However, it still cannot be ruled out that there might be weak health
effects, or some individuals who actually do react to EMF. For future studies, the authors thus recommend to identify subgroups and to conduct studies at the individual level.

Source:

https://www.emfsa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Newsletter_BERENIS_Nr._21_-_ENGLISH-1-2.pdf

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by YubaNet June 23, 2020

Washington June 23, 2020 – Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) today introduced the Military Aviators Cancer Incidence Study Act, a bill directing the military to conduct a study comparing cancer prevalence among military aviators to that of the general population. Reporting by McClatchy  suggests that military aviators may be exposed to radiation that places them at higher risk of developing certain cancers.

“Military aviators take enough risks while serving our country without having to worry about contracting cancer from radiation exposure,” said Feinstein. “The high prevalence of cancer among aviators is deeply concerning, including the cluster of cases at China Lake. We must determine why these aviators are getting cancer and if their jobs are exposing them to dangerous carcinogens. This study will be the first to look across Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps active duty, reservist, National Guard, and veteran aviators’ data to assess the long-term health effects. It is an important step to help us understand what’s happening and how we can better protect our military aviators.”

Read more at: https://yubanet.com/usa/feinstein-cornyn-introduce-bill-to-investigate-military-aviators-risk-of-cancer/?fbclid=IwAR3xWuysGrk28369rySerRorjsq_dvURdPYUluZNHgby9m9npTuSl_ejWuA

Excerpt:

“If the study determines a higher rate of cancer among military aviators, the department would then have to identify carcinogens associated with military flight operations, environments where aviators might have been exposed to increased radiation and military locations with higher incidences of cancer.”

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