Leukaemia, Cot Death linked to powerlines in two new studies
Here is another report (below) on the Draper study suggesting that it is exposures within the home (unless the homes are adjacent to transmission lines then external sources are the issue) that are paramount for the general population.
Note the other study on cot death (SIDS).
Now if there is a connection with SIDS and EMF exposure (baby’s cot by meter box for instance) this brings up an interesting possibility. Some months ago there was an article in a Melbourne newspaper about a mother being charged with murder because her three children had all died of apparent cot death . It was said that she suffered from “Munchhausen’s Syndrome by Proxy” a supposed condition where parents are driven to harm their children in order to draw attention to themselves.
One thing I noticed in the newspaper photo of the woman’s home was that the electrical service drop and meter box was on a bedroom wall. I surmised that what would be the case if it turned out that the cot where her children had been placed was right up against the meter box? The way many suburban homes in Australia were/are built the meter box tends to be on a bedroom wall at the front of the home.
Last Month a Melbourne paper carried an article: “British courts are filling up with mothers appealing against murder convictions based on Munchhausen’s Syndrome by Proxy theory.”
The paper reported that MSP is just a theory, largely promoted by a UK pediatrician Sir Roy Meadow – and that theory now is in question. In 2003 The Lancet published a paper that presented evidence that there may be a genetic susceptability in SIDS infants.
So, if that were to be the case, are there a number of environmental factors that may interplay with SIDS prone infants? Factors such as chemical exposures, mould, vaccinations and EMF exposure at night. The EMF’s could be from close proximity to a nearby electrical device, such as a meter box. thereby placing an undue stress on an immune system that does not function fully until up to about the age of one. An interesting line of inquiry, especially for the Lawyers defending SIDS mothers against charges of purposely harming their newborns.
Don
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Leukaemia, Cot Death linked to powerlines in two new studies
03/06/2005
The Medcross Group (UK)
Two scientific studies newly released this week report that infants living near powerlines are more likely to suffer cot death, and children to get leukaemia if they live within 300 metres of major EMF sources such as powerlines.
The Draper et al study of childhood cancers near powerlines, whose publication in BMJ was delayed for two years by the UK Dept of Health, is widely expected to announce a near doubling of childhood leukaemia among populations living close to high voltage powerlines. The major impact however is thought to be the electromagnetic fields (EMF) from domestic electric appliances, which was not addressed by this costly national study.
In support of the Draper study another research finding released this week as a pre-print in European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics (www.ebab.eu.com) measured the distance from EMF sources of all cot deaths recorded at the Coroner”™s Office in the whole of Inner North London and found a significant correlation between their proximity and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) commonly known as cot death. Around 5 otherwise healthy infants die this way each week in Britain.
Roger Coghill, the author of the SIDS study, whose Coghill Research Laboratories has investigated such effects for two decades, is well known as a pioneer campaigner for warning labels on cellphone handsets, advice now endorsed by the latest Stewart Report on cellphone health.
“The Government, the former CEGB and the former NRPB all knew about this risk at least ten years ago, but did nothing” says Coghill, who is calling for the labelling of all domestic electric appliances so that users do not receive excessive EMF exposure. Both his and the Draper study measured distance from the childrens”™ home to the nearest EMF source, though Draper confined attention to powerlines, whereas the SIDS study also took into account other EMF sources such as electric railways, mains water conduits, and underground train lines.
Mothers of very young children should be sure not to let them sleep near common appliances such as storage heaters, hot water immersion heaters, electric blankets or water beds, advises Coghill. Most cot deaths occur in the winter months when such appliances are likely to be in use.
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