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Record: 1
Title: Hidden hazards of the airwaves.
Authors: Elmer-DeWitt, P.
Source: Time. 7/30/1990, Vol. 136 Issue 5, p53. 3/4p. 2 Color Photographs.
Document Type: Article
People: Slesin, Louis
Abstract: Describes recent articles which have appeared in the monthly
newsletter `Microwave News,' brainchild of Louis Slesin, 43, who
has been reporting on tales of electromagnetism seemingly gone
awry for nearly a decade. Low frequency fields classified as
`probable human carcinogens'; Extraordinary lengths taken by US
not to study this problem.
Full Text Word Count: 705
ISSN: 0040-781X
Accession Number: 9007301035
Database: Academic Search Complete
Notes: This title is held locally
Section: Technology

HIDDEN HAZARDS OF THE AIRWAVES

An obscure newsletter uncovers the perils of the information age
Louis Slesin's stories have a tendency to shock. Like the one about the 23 workers at the Bath Iron Works
in Bath, Me., who got "sunburns" one rainy day when someone on a Navy frigate flicked on the ship's radar.
Or the trash fires that start spontaneously from time to time near the radio and TV broadcast antennas in
downtown Honolulu. Or the pristine suburb of Vernon, N.J., that has both one of the world's highest
concentrations of satellite transmitting stations and a persiStent--and unexplained--cluster of Down's
syndrome cases.
For nearly a decade, Slesin, 43, has been collecting these and similar tales of electromagnetism seemingly
gone awry and publishing them, meticulously researched and thoroughly documented, in an obscure
bimonthly newsletter called Microwave News. His circulation is tiny (just over 500 copies), but he is well
known in scientific and professional circles. And lately his message--that there may be adverse health
effects from the radiation emitted by power lines, computer terminals and other technologies vital to the
information age--has become front-page news.
In the current issue of Microwave News, Slesin has printed what may be his greatest scoop: the key
paragraph of a two-year Environmental Protection Agency study recommending that so.called extremely
low-frequency fields be classified as "probable human carcinogens" alongside such notorious chemical
toxins as PCBS, formaldehyde and dioxin. The recommendation, which could have set off a costly chain of
regulatory actions, was deleted from the final draft after review by the White House Office of Policy
Development. "The EPA thing is a stunner," says Paul Brodeur, a writer for the New Yorker. "It's a clear
case of suppression and politicization of a major health issue by the White House."

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It was Brodeur who first brought Slesin's work to widespread public attention. Much of the information in
Brodeur's influential book Currents of Death was gleaned from the files of Microwave News. In a chapter
titled "Watchdog" he describes Slesin's unrelenting coverage of the landmark studies linking low-level
electromagnetic fields to the increased incidence of miscarriage, birth defects and various forms of cancer,
especially brain tumors and leukemia. In the July 9 issue of the New Yorker, Brodeur returned to the
subject with a detailed story about a cancer cluster in Guilford, Conn. Over a period of 20 years, four
residents of a street with nine homes on it developed brain tumors, and most of their neighbors suffered
recurring headaches. The common denominator: they all lived near an electrical substation and
transmission lines owned by Connecticut Light & Power.
Slesin and three assistants publish Microwave News out of a three-room Manhattan apartment that used to
be his home. In addition to major reports on the hazards of electric blankets, microwave ovens and medical
imaging systems, a typical 16-page issue will summarize the latest health studies, monitor ongoing
litigation and track various government activities, like this week's congressional hearings on the status of
federal research efforts. Subscribers include utilities and communications companies and officials in some
30 government agencies.
Not everybody appreciates Slesin's work. Despite having a reputation for evenhandedness, he is seen in
some industry circles as a crusader. "He's not alarmist or inflammatory," admits Bruce Dickerson, executive
director of the Center forOffice Technology, an industry-sponsored clearinghouse for information about VDT
safety. "But he does represent a constituency that is not in the mainstream of science. [The government
agencies concerned with worker safety] certainly don't believe there are adverse health effects."
For Slesin, the fact that the government has not taken the issue seriously is part of the problem. In his
opinion, the studies linking higher incidences of cancer to low-frequency electromagnetic fields raise
questions about the whole electromagnetic spectrum, including radiation from such ubiquitous sources as
broadcast antennas, walkie-talkies and cellular telephones. But despite all the warning signs, there has
been almost no research on the effects of long-term low-level exposure. "The U.S. has gone to
extraordinary lengths not to study this problem," says Slesin. "It's as if we're terrified of what we might find
out."
PHOTO (COLOR): Currents of controversy: high-voltage power lines
PHOTO (COLOR): Microwave News's Slesin
~~~~~~~~
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Time Inc., 1990. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be duplicated or redisseminated without
permission.

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