One of the newest review panels convened to study the health effects from EMF was that of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC). As we reported last year, the NAS-NRC's Board of Radiation Research identified and confirmed a cross-section of representatives from academic and research institutions, federal and private research groups as committee members two years ago. The Committee on Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Biologic Systems expected to complete its report by August 1994 but, thus far, has been unable to do so. The original $600,000 allocated has already been spent for the Committee's work. The committee, chaired by Dr. Charles Salk of the Salk Institute, has requested an additional $300,000 from the DOE/EPA funds not related to the RAPID program. Many of the chapters have been drafted, including the chapter on epidemiologic research. The final draft of the report is expected to be released in June 1995.
During 1994 the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) released an update to its initial 1992 report . The 1992 report, "Electromagnetic Fields and the Risk Cancer", which was chaired by Sir Richard Doll, Oxford University epidemiologist, presented a review of hundreds of experimental and epidemiologic research. The Advisory Group concluded that the epidemiologic findings did not provide any good evidence of a cancer risk to either children or adults, from normal levels of EMF. Since March 1992 several studies have been published reporting on both residential and occupational exposures, which were assessed by the Advisory Group. The NRPB stated that despite several well- designed studies published over the last two years there remains "no persuasive biological evidence that [EMF] can influence any of the accepted stages" of the development of cancer. The report goes on to say that "the studies do not establish that exposure to electromagnetic fields is a cause of cancer, but, taken together, do provide some evidence to suggest that the possibility exists in the case of childhood leukemia. The number of affected children in the studies is, however, very small". The Advisory Group further reports that the experimental studies to date have failed to establish any biologically plausible mechanism that could influence the development of cancer associated with the types of frequencies to which the general public is exposed.
The Advisory Group urged the scientific community to press for "large and statistically robust epidemiologic studies based on objective measurements of exposure to electromagnetic fields and the need to investigate further the basis for any interactions of environmental levels of electromagnetic fields with the body.
In a follow-up interview by ESAA (Section 2.4), Sir Richard Doll was asked for his interpretation of why there is no definitive answer as to whether EMF pose a health risk. Sir Richard answered, "...the studies are good; there is something there which has got to be explained, but from our knowledge of biology and experimental medicine we can't see how it can be caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields." When queried about the level of risk, Sir Richard replied, "Oh, one can be quite clear that we are talking about small risks; there is no question of that. Even with the heaviest exposure the risk is quite small...But the real problem is, if there is a risk, is it proportional to the amount of exposure to electromagnetic fields?"