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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
Committee on Assessment of the Possible Health Effects of Ground Wave Emergency Network
Board on Radiation Effects Research
Commission on Life Sciences
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1993
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20418
The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is the president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an advisor to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
This project was prepared under contract No. F49620-90-0012 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Air Force.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 92-60706
International Standard Book Number 0-309-04777-3
B-616
Limited number of copies available from the Board on Radiation Effects Research, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418
Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
COMMITTEE ON ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
THOMAS S. TENFORDE (Chairman),
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Washington
CLAUDIO J. CONTI, M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center, Smithville, Texas
H. KEITH FLORIG,
Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
OM P. GANDHI,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
MICHAEL E. GINEVAN,
Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
GEORGE H. HARRISON,
University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland
MAUREEN M. HENDERSON,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
J. ROSS MACDONALD,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
REGINA M. SANTELLA,
Columbia University, New York, New York
JAN A. J. STOLWIJK,
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
HOWARD WACHTEL,
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
National Research Council Staff
D. DENNIS MAHLUM, Study Director until February 28, 1993
LARRY H. TOBUREN, Study Director as of February 1, 1993
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Administrative Assistant
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
SPONSOR'S PROJECT OFFICERS
Major Robert Veal, U.S. Air Force
Lt. Col. Stephen Martin, U.S. Air Force
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
BOARD ON RADIATION EFFECTS RESEARCH
WARREN K. SINCLAIR (Chairman),
National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements (ret.), Bethesda, Maryland
DOUGLAS GRAHN,
Argonne National Laboratory (ret.), Madison, Indiana
ERIC J. HALL,
Columbia University, New York, New York
MAUREEN M. HENDERSON,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
LEONARD S. LERMAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JOHN B. LITTLE,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
New Mexico Tumor Registry, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico
THOMAS S. TENFORDE,
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Washington
ARTHUR C. UPTON,
New York University Medical Center (ret.), New York, New York
National Research Council Staff
CHARLES W. EDINGTON, Director
D. DENNIS MAHLUM, Senior Program Officer until February 28, 1993
EVAN B. DOUPLE, Senior Program Officer
LARRY H. TOBUREN, Senior Program Officer as of February 1, 1993
CATHERINE S. BERKLEY, Administrative Associate
MAURITA A. DOW, Project Assistant
DORIS E. TAYLOR, Administrative Assistant
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
THOMAS D. POLLARD (Chairman),
Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland
BRUCE M. ALBERTS,
University of Califormia, San Francisco, California
BRUCE N. AMES,
University of California, Berkeley, California
J. MICHAEL BISHOP,
University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, California
DAVID BOTSTEIN,
Stanford Univesity School of Medicine, Stanford, California
MICHAEL T. CLEGG,
University of California, Riverside, California
GLENN A. CROSBY,
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
LEROY E. HOOD,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
MARIAN E. KOSHLAND,
University of California, Berkeley, California
RICHARD E. LENSKI,
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
STEVEN P. PAKES,
Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
EMIL A. PFITZER,
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, New Jersey
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
PAUL G. RISSER,
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
New Mexico Tumor Registry, Albuquerque, New Mexico
HAROLD M. SCHMECK, JR.,
Armonk, New York
CARLA J. SHATZ,
University of California, Berkeley, California
SUSAN S. TAYLOR,
University of California at San Diege, La Jolla, California
P. ROY VAGELOS,
Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
TORSTEN N. WIESEL,
Rockefeller University, New York, New York
National Research Council Staff
ALVIN G. LAZEN, Acting Executive Director
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
PREFACE
This report was prepared in response to a request from the U.S. Air Force for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by the Ground Wave Emergency Network (GWEN). This system was designed to protect strategic communication capabilities in the event of a highaltitude nuclear detonation. The GWEN communication system broadcasts UHF messages (225-400 MHz) that are transmitted at low altitudes by a network of low-frequency (150-175 kHz) relay nodes located throughout the United States. This mode of message transmission is immune to interference from the strong electromagnetic pulse produced by a high-altitude nuclear detonation.
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the GWEN system was issued in 1987. However, in 1990 members of Congress requested the Air Force to evaluate recent evidence for adverse health effects of electromagnetic fields and to assess the relevance of this information to the issue of possible health effects of GWEN emissions. The release of federal funds to bring the entire system of GWEN transmitters and relay nodes into operation was delayed until a response to this request for information was received by Congress. The Air Force subsequently established a contract with the National Research Council (NRC) to convene a committee of independent scientists to address the question of potential health effects of GWEN electromagnetic fields.
An NRC committee of eleven scientists who are recognized for expertise in the areas of dosimetry, biological interactions, epidemiology, and health effects of electromagnetic fields was appointed by the NAS Board on Radiation Effects Research and approved by the NRC Chairman, Dr. Frank Press. The GWEN committee met on five occasions for a total of nine days during the period December 14, 1990 to September 15, 1991. A draft report was prepared during this interval, and subsequently refined for submission to an NRC-appointed peer review committee in April, 1992.
The GWEN report was designed to be responsive to a series of questions raised by the Air Force on the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields, including risks of shocks and burns, effects of these fields on membrane processes in living cells, and the possible carcinogenic effects of these fields. Although relatively little information exists on the biological and health risks of electromagnetic fields in the frequency bands used for GWEN transmissions, the committee was nonetheless able to draw conclusions on the basis of available data for fields with frequencies below and above those of the GWEN system. Detailed dosimetric calculations were performed to characterize the physical interaction of GWEN fields with humans, and the existing biological and human health literature on the effects of electromagnetic fields was evaluated in this context. The levels of GWEN fields in public areas were also analyzed in relation to exposure standards and guidelines for electromagnetic fields that have been issued by governments and agencies throughout the
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
world. Finally, estimates of cancer risk imposed by public exposure to GWEN fields were made by comparison of GWEN field intensities with those of AM and FM communication systems, for which there is currently no evidence of adverse health impacts.
The overall conclusion of the committee was that no unacceptable risks to public health should result from full operation of the GWEN communication system. The committee also recommends that its report be used in conjunction with the original EIS as a definitive assessment of potential effects on public health of electromagnetic fields emitted by the GWEN system.
Thomas S. Tenforde
Chairman
Committee on Assessment of the
Possible Health Effects of Ground
Wave Emergency Network
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ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GROUND WAVE EMERGENCY NETWORK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The committee would like to extend its appreciation to Dr. D. Dennis Mahlum of the Board on Radiation Effects Research, who served as Study Director from January, 1991 through the conclusion of the report activities. We also thank Dr. Raymond D. Cooper, who was instrumental in establishing the Air Force contract in 1990 and served as the initial Study Director. The committee also thanks Mrs. Doris E. Taylor for her role in organizing the committee meetings and in preparing this report.
Appreciation is extended to Major Robert T. Veale and Lt. Col. Stephen Martin, who served as the Air Force project offices and provided extensive background information on the GWEN system to the committee; to Lt. Col. G. Andrew Mickley, Dr. James H. Merritt and Dr. Sidney Everett of the Armstrong Laboratory for Human Systems at Brooks Air Force Base, who provided perspectives and information on the biological effects of radiofrequency radiation; and to Dr. Steven M. Sussman and Dr. Roswell P. Barnes, Jr. of the MITRE Corporation in Bedford, MA for providing information on the physical characteristics of GWEN electromagnetic fields. Appreciation is also extended to Dr. John E. Burris, the Executive Director of the NRC Commission on Life Sciences, and Dr. Charles W. Edington, Director of the Board on Radiation Effects Research, for their support of the GWEN committee's activities.
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
Introduction
1
Description of GWEN System
2
Biological Interactions
2
Field Interactions
3
Organ and Tissue Systems
4
Cellular and Subcellar Effects
5
Human Evidence
5
Thermal Effects
7
Risk Assessment
7
Exposure Reduction
9
Conclusions
9
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
11
Chapter 2
DESCRIPTION OF GWEN SYSTEM
13
Chapter 3
COUPLING OF GWEN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS TO THE HUMAN BODY
25
Low-Frequency (LF) Transmitter
25
Ultra-High-Frequency (UHF) Transmitter
25
Induced Fields and Currents in the Human Body
25
Induced Currents and E Fields at 174.625 kHz
26
SARs for UHF Electromagnetic Fields
28
Microscopic Field Interactions at the Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Levels
32
Indirect Coupling--Shock and Burns
34
APPENDIX A: Anatomically Based Model and Numerical Procedure Used for Calculations
37
Anatomically Based Model
37
Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method
37
References
41
Chapter 4
PERCEPTION AND BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
45
References
49
Chapter 5
EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS ON DEVELOPMENT
53
References
61
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Chapter 6
EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS ON ORGANS AND TISSUES
67
Introduction
67
Nervous System
67
Visual System
69
Endocrine System
70
Immune System
71
Hematologic and Cardiovascular Systems
71
Animal Carcinogenesis
72
Conclusions
74
References
76
Chapter 7
IN VITRO CELLULAR AND SUBCELLULAR END POINTS
85
Bone Healing
89
Mutagenic Effects
89
Cytogenetic Effects
90
Cell Transformation
92
Effects on Transcription
92
Tumor Promotion
94
Conclusions
98
References
99
Chapter 8
HUMAN LABORATORY AND CLINICAL EVIDENCE OF EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
109
Cutaneous Perception
109
Phosphenes
110
Pacemaker Interference
110
Microwave Auditory Effect
110
Circadian Rhythms
110
Brain Evoked Potentials
111
Heart Rate
111
Reaction Time
111
Mood and Cognitive Function
113
Blood Composition
113
Bone Repair and Growth Stimulation
113
Conclusions
114
References
115
Chapter 9
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH RELEVANT TO IDENTIFICATION OF HEALTH HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH GWEN FIELDS
121
Studies of General Environmental Exposure
121
Occupational Studies
126
Epidemiologic Studies of Health Effects of Microwave Exposure
127
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Radio Broadcast Stations
128
Amateur Radio Operations
129
Conclusions
129
References
131
Chapter 10
STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR EXPOSURE TO RADIOFREQUENCY AND EXTREMELY-LOW-FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
137
References
141
Chapter 11
RISK ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
143
Risk Assessment
143
General Description of GWEN Fields
144
Coupling of Electromagnetic Fields to Human Body
145
Shielding by Buildings
146
Population Distribution Around Gwen Sites
146
LF and UHF Exposures of Population Around Sites
149
Exposure Comparisons with Existing Standards
150
Exposure Comparisons with Other Sources
150
Bounding GWEN Risks
154
Historical Growth in Broadcast Activity
154
Public Health Surveillance Around Broadcast Facilities
157
Meadowlands Sports Complex
157
Bounds on Excess Population Risk from GWEN Fields
158
Limitations of GWEN Risk Assessment
162
Risk Perception
162
Exposure Reduction
163
Research Needs
164
References
165
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